1988_04 The Daily Collegian April 1988

              Entertainment
Friday, April 8,1988
Catch me now, I'm Falling
By T. James Madison
amertatnment Editor
LETtTBE
It's not easy being The Fall.
After more than a decade of
existentialist thrashing against
the status quo. In the world of
music as-well as the world in
general. The Fall has finally
released an album to break them
out of their seemingly self-
imposed obscurity, without
compromising the principles
they've held so dear, for so long.
The problem is that this one
probably won't sell, either.
The Frenz Expertmerit is a
distillation of everything that is.
or was. The Fall, and on its own.
stands as a monument to the truly
great things the band has
accomplished. From the opening
dirge. "Frenz," (wherein
bandleader Mark E. Smith
complains "Myjriends don't
amount to one hand") to the final.
Jaunty "Oswald Defence Lawyer."
the band spins melodies and
lyrics in the same dazzling way
they always have, but with the
extra-added surprise of a hint of
commercial gloss as well.
The now-obligatory Fall cover,
this time "Victoria" by Ray
Davies. goes down easily. The
remake here seems not so much a
sell-out as It did on last year's
Bend Sinister, but much more of a
celebration ofThe Fall's roots,
and indeed, of when* they are
heading.
As usual, personnel changes
tliiveocrutfd. Simon !<nt>,r:--
Ikt-yboardsj being the lait'sv
seek greener pastures, but ihvnnc-
iwopunc h of Craig Scaiilnu and
Urix E  Smith (Mark > wtl'ej tin
guitars, combined with the
powerful druinnungoi Staior.
Woolstencrofl, solidify what is
possibly the strongest line-upThr
Fail has ever had.
LET IT BLOAT
"Myjriends ain't enough for one
hand/
my friends ain'l enough Jor one
hand/
myjriends don't amCwmt to one
hand"
-"Frenz." The Fall. 1988
It's not easy beii ig The Fall.
You type those words, fully
intending to write some sorry
piece of trite apologia forThe
Fall, they have no friends, man,
and it makes me realty sad. I am
bummed^ blah, blah, then rake
the current scene for being dense.
out of it. because The Fall has
made better music, better words
than anyone else for sometime
now. not even really a close race,
then you want to put in some word
about their new album, calculated
kiss-off cum commercial
throwaway The Frenz
Experiment a last desperate grab
at making converts, but they
should know that the attempt at
making friends, or frenz. fails as
soon as it's said or thought
because MarkE. Smith never
claimed he was a politician and
The Fall never tried to succeed
anyway, so I'm clinging to this
Utile premise and typing these
words In the dim hope that
someone somewhere will actually
notice and be interested to the
degree that they go out and save
The Fall.
QUESTION II1: What is (are) The
Fa"?
The Fall are a band of raging
idiots from England. They've been
--iround a longtime, too long.
because It was a badjoke to begin
with. But It's a hell of a story
Somewhere along the line.
young Mr Smilh. "vocalist" for
said band, decided he wanted to
plav music that hadn't been
played before, find a new way of
connecting sounds and words and
ideas, and present them loan
audience starved for ihai kind ai
thing Chalk it up "oan overactive
imaginai ion Or a really black
sense of humor Either way. it was
a big mistake, because the
,n:dience tor That Kind Of Thine
doesn't exist. Il never has. The
only people lnleresled were
isolated groups of agitated
iconoclasts intent on finding the
most severe possible answer to
Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees
ney found that in The Fall.
Smith and company released
scores of singles. EPs and LPs in
the late seventies to the present
day, none selling anywhere near
Rock Star level, and usuallyjust
above, if not a tad below, the
break-even watermark. Today,
with the addition of Smith's
American wife, Brix. they struggle
on. vainly marching against a
tide that will never recede, or even
shift their way. Resortlngto
covers is usually the first sign of a
band going under, or crying for
attention, and lately there's been
a lot of them /or The Fall. Last
year's versions of "Ghost InMy
House'and "Mr. Pharmacist, "and
a very Fallian rendering of Ray
Davies' "Victoria" on the new disc
will probably only piss off ihe few
fans they have left. Good
riddance. It all sounds great. And
any talk of selling out should be
silenced by the title cut. wherein
Smith reaches into his bag of trix
and pulls out... 1980. all over
again. The album, in fact, is a
throwback to the glorious days of
old when the band spewed out a
chaotic mix over audiences who
had no idea of what was
happening to them. The Frenz
Experiment is Just that: give them
The Fall and see what happens, if
we make some "frenz" this time
out. well. O. K., but we don't really
give a shit eit her way.
Compounding all this is the
mirror through which Smith
views himself; an outsider, yes.
hut also a curmudgeon, scraping
on the shiny plate glass window
of popular rulture while yelling
his brains out Mark E. Smith is
in all of us: "People say Hey
Mark, you're messing \iptiie
paintwork!' I sail
Mr}-ui...cnn'l..J...line...m...Enakin
■ QUESTION «2 What could thev
possibly want?
Gtifxl question After ten years
■ r so of I his nonsense it might ne
.i Hood tune loask it. A prolonged
quest for sanity is a little too easy
ni an answer, anarchy a little
lartrit'hed Adillerent System
entirely is close, but ihe real
answer might ilea little closer to
COM PLETE AND TOTAL
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND
AN AUDIENCE THAT
UNDERSTANDS WTiATTHEYRE
TRYING TO EX). FOR
CHRISSAKES. Not that It's
always easy to understand oi
want to understand, even iur a
fan. Many songs consist of simply
found phrases, scribbled
expressions repeated over and
over in Smith's talk-sing limey
voice. Others seem to be
perfidious excercis^s in mind-
crunching sloganeering, "Get A
Hotel." from the new album, for
Instance: "Get a hotel today/ go get
a hotel today/goget a hotel
today /before the Idea slips
away /get a hotel/get a hotel
today /that was the first question
raised/that was the question
raised. "What it ultimately
means, in The Fall's case. Is less
important than the way it's said,
so when Smith chants "My new
house/my new house/my new
house/ take a look al my new
house on 1985sThis Nation's
Saving Grace, he could be talking
about ariything from the state of
his romantic relationships, to the
state of his home country, to the
new flat hejust sub-let in Brixton.
Its not re ally important. The
energy Is there, the passion Is
realized, the message seeps
through regardless, and besides,
we all have our own ideas about
just what that writer or director Is
"eaiiy trying to say. so why not sit
back and enjoy it. Or analyze It.
What the hell is Smith trying to
pull in Steak Place?" I can't say.
but what exactly was John
Lennon trying to tell us In "Day in
the Life?" Exactly even money
Smilh is actually referring to a
STEAK PLACE, but its a fun ride
all ihewav
FiiSqftne
Commonwealth / droiv doun
theref(toooooow wwwnnnthr
t[impike/ desperate forfoorL
desperatejor respite/sheak
placet the steak place., thingsare
brought forward and eaten/! see
trie comers filled u'ilh hit
;nen/iwo young lawyers, they are
■ rhispenn ...I want to slay here/1
Um't want to go ai\y where/I shall
<ematn here."
The weird tale is accompanied
by an acoustic guitar and hipster       <
finger-snaps. Quietly, it kicks ass.
Sort ofliketheband themselves.
QUESTION #3: Where goes The
Fall?
It's all downhill from here.
Course. I was saying that two
years ago
w
haft Going On, cont.
caters'at lived in caves, way
dowfibelowthe earth, known as
the SleestakSv And everytlme
the little gill, can't rightly    -
■mernbether name, went down
warned hernext near hundred
umesnottogothere, these -    .
vaaroints's creep up "hind her
and grab herl And then, the
teenage son, whose name has
also escaped me, would go down
andrescu^ner. Ornaaybenot
Somei&rjes he got caught, too,
and Pop and Ohakn (the
friendly but stupid caveboy) had
to go and fix tip the whole mess.
Sheeesht Ifcey don* make no
te levision like that no more!
Oh. so. well. van,
anyway■■ .there's this band
caurdtheSleestaks.andl
figure they'll probably be all
right. WlihtheLoveToatls; 9
p.nx. Olympic Tavern. $3.
pipaday
Wot? You got mildew iayour
bathtub? myour sink? How
about your toilet? AS over your
Idtchen? Is it downy mildew?
Course not. Dowi^Miktew. the
band, Isn't in your bathroom,
no. ho ho, ho ho. to fact, they're
probably not even in your
neighborhood. But they're in
this other one, the one around
tbe Wild Blue, wherethe two-
woman, two-man assanb lage
from Sou thern California will
do their thang, as it were, and
you won't even needa can of
Liquid Drairjo to enjoy it But it
couldn't hurt. WtththeMiss
Atans,-a50pjn., WMBtue,
ctther $4 or $5 admission,
Dina's not really sure which 21
and aver.
Coming next week
or thereabouts
The 'E'
Report
How could they know their son would
become
The King Of Rock and Roll?
ONLY in the Subterranean Jungle
Accept no substitute