The Fall
Ersatz G.B.
Cherry Red Records
Of all of those punks who began in the “Class of 1976/77” – The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Ramones – it is only Mark E. Smith, the leather-lunged misanthrope of Manchester’s The Fall who remains. Most of the others are dead, sadly, or Filthy Lucre reunion tour rerun and animal TV show host ala John Lydon material.
Smith has remained true to the sound and vision of those heady days, snarling his literate and bruising post-punk through numerous lineups and albums – Ersatz G.B. is the 29th – and he’s rarely sounded better. Working with the same band he had on 2010’s Your Future Our Clutter (Peter Greenway, lead guitar; Keiron Melling, drums; Elena Poulou, keyboards,vocals; and David Spurr, bass), the music is still classic Fall, from the obtuse lyrics of Smith to the grinding guitars, that unique take on rock and roll that led the late, great British DJ John Peel to exclaim, “They are always different, they are always the same.”
From the Melvins/fake metal of “Greenway” to “Happi Song,” sung by Poulou, this is vital, no holds barred Fall. Long may they wave!
Cherry Red: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/default.asp
