This is The Fall’s 28th studio album so it’s pretty much a miracle the only constant driving force behind the band, Mark E Smith , is producing anything at all that’s creative. Given how many bands descend into mediocrity somewhere around album two or three and spend the rest of their careers filling dingy student unions, enticing people in to buy overpriced cider on the strength of a single decent song anything original is a relief. To be fair, it was unlikely The Fall were ever going to do this. Ersatz GB continues in much the same vein as their last album Your Future Our Clutter – moving forwards with little regard for the line of younger bands running along trying to catch up.
Having already influenced everyone from Nirvana and Sonic Youth to Franz Ferdinand and The Horrors, The Fall are going to continue to inspire with this latest effort. Mediocrity is certainly not present anywhere in this album. Chaos, however, is alive and well. Ten whole glorious tracks of said chaos is pretty much what you get served up here, just about tied down to earth with some solid drumming and bass riffs – but only just. The band, for once, sound pretty tight behind Smith. Right from opener ‘Cosmos 7’ through to the distorted guitar of closing track ‘Age Of Chang’, The Fall aren’t far short of their discordant best. Mark E Smith continues to growl lyrics in a slightly demented way over discordant tunes. The lyrics are as enigmatic as ever: covering everything from Bonjela (‘Taking Off’) to Gossip Girl (‘Nate Will Not Return’) and often not making much sense at all. This is symptomatic of the whole album though; it all requires a second listen, it’s all music that’s interesting and is going to stay interesting. It’s a fresh breath of air among the standard bilge that is, shamefully, so much more popular – ‘I’m so sick of Snow Patrol’ claims Smith, and this couldn’t be a better antidote. If you want to cleanse your mind of the recent Snow Patrol/Coldplay/*insert generic band name here*, turn up the track ‘Greenaway’, sit back, and let the madness cleanse your mind of the drudgery.
