#22

I’m currently reading the big mid week , up to the tour before recording hex. Great book but worried I’m going to come out of this thinking Mark was a real prick. Like I already thought he kinda was, but always in a “he’s a character” lovable prick kinda way , not an Anthony Keidis kinda way.

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#23

^This.

#24

Oh he was absolutely a massive prick. Some great stories in that book though.

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#25

Just the best band.

Like once you’ve fallen (heh) for them, you’ll be completely and utterly hooked. Plus they have such a rich catalogue to explore and root through. Pretty much stick on one of the albums weekly.

My intro to them was actually the complete Peel Sessions and I just stuck it on shuffle before becoming obsessed with tracks like 2 by 4, Deer Park and Cruiser’s Creek. It was the snark and snarl of MES’s vocals, those gloriously repetitive basslines and just the way the songs felt like they were walking the line between being incredibly tight but could chaotically collapse in on itself at any second.

Like other’s had mentioned above you could pick any album between Hex and Sinister and you’ll strike gold tbh. Still never really find myself reaching for Witch Trails or Dragnet but they both certainly have their charms especially the former.

Another gem from the later years is Your Future, Our Clutter which perfectly blends all the rockabilly, garage and krautrock sounds that they were making during this period.

Some favourite picks of mine:

Smile & 2 by 4

Frenz

No Bulbs

Dr Buck’s Letter

Weather Report 2

US 80’s - 90’s

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#26

Fall thread?
Any excuse to post something from The Light User Syndrome as nobody else seems to like this album, which was my intro to The Fall.
I remember as a teenager, thinking “this music exists?” & it set me off in a completely different direction as a listener.
Of course, it’s not the best Fall album. Hex Enduction Hour, Grotesque & This Nation’s Saving Grace are all obectively superior, but Light User Syndrome is a symbol of when my musical tastes corrected course.

Spinetrak still ends up on playlists regularly - absolute tune. Absolutely love Brix’s vocals on this.

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#28

i got really into Witch Trials early on, i think it’s another one that’s quite accessible for a newcomer actually, but i find it easy to get quite sick of after a while. i really like Dragnet a lot though (but obviously very lo-fi and less newcomer friendly). it seemed to be one MES was particularly fond of resurrecting songs from live towards the end of their run.

also yes YFOC is so good. when i was first getting into them just after Ersatz came out i didn’t rate the recent stuff much until i got round to that one and was a bit blown away. wonderful.

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#29

i remember finding Light User Syndrome to be one of quite a few Fall albums to have a handful of really great highs and then quite a lot of turgid shit. haven’t tried it in a while though, it’s not one of the ones i own so it rarely gets played. the tracks from it that are on the Peel Sessions set are really good (Spinetrak included)

i quite like Middle Class Revolt and Cerebral Caustic from just before it though which most people don’t seem to rate

#30

Dragnet is such a brutal record isn’t it! That sound is so skeletal and unforgiving that I don’t listen to it that often either.

If you do find yourself in the right frame of mind though, it can really hit the spot like few others. I remember playing it very loudly while having to drive somewhere on my own at about 3am once on the rationale that nobody could possibly fall asleep to it. Sounded so good on that journey.

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#31

If this is a genuine worry I advise you to stop reading all Fall related books immediately (and I think I’ve read most of them).

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#32

Psykick Dancehall is a banger

Always thought it would be a good name for a clubnight but someone at one of my local venues has now beaten me to it

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#33

supposedly the recording studio tried to stop Dragnet from being released as they were worried it would be such a poor advertisement for their studio

really hope that’s true

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#34

I really like the Von Sudenfed album - Mouse on Mars and Mark’s vocals.

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#35

actually got into this album quite a long time before i ever bothered trying with The Fall. don’t know why it took me so long to make the leap

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#36

I was into The Fall in the early/mid-eighties but then drifted away completely but the Von Sudenfed album brought me back and led to a period of obsessive absorption.

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#37

Love those kind of night drives where an album just click - just super satisfying :slightly_smiling_face:

Can’t say if I can fairly comment on Dragnet actually. Just checking over my last.fm stats and apparently bar the odd I haven’t listened to it in full since 2013 (!), I think that was around the time I was starting to get into them and it just didn’t gel with me especially after hearing more appealing jams on Hex, Perverted and Wonderful & Frightening etc then even after MES passed and I dug deeper into their catalogue beyond say their borderline untouchable 80’s run and a smattering of the 2010’s albums, I still never came back to Dragnet. Should probably rectify this. Not sure that they really have another album like it in their catalogue though do they? I remember it being very raw and much harsher than Witch Trails whilst also being more spiky around the edges (which is saying something)…

@Icarus-Smicarus that’s cool about MES still including Dragnet tracks in their later day setlist - which ones?

Also favourite Witch Trials tracks? Mine would be Frightened, Futures & Pasts and Two Steps Back.

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#38

Bangers from Light User Syndrome, Cerebal Caustic & Middle Class Revolt:

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#39

I first heard of them at around Extricate so I have a lot of affection for that early-mid 90s period.

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#40

Did the Mouse on Mars guy recently release something with Mark on? Like in the last month or so?

#41

Extricate is terrific! Love the almost tender and sentimental Bill is Dead which almost sounds like MES fronting Felt. Dig the funky Telephone Thing and Hilary too. Picked up a cheap copy of it at local records fair last year which was quite pleasing. What are you other favourite albums of theirs from the 90s?

#42

Oooo, I might have seen that reviewed…