Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a member of The Fall? Well, wonder no more. This Saturday, August 24 at Dublin’s Sound House – thanks to one of our favourite promoters in the land, Enthusiastic Eunuch – the opportunity to channel your inner Mark E Smith has arisen, with backing music provided by The Fallen Women, an all-female Fall karaoke band working in association with The Quietus magazine. They’ll play the songs and members of the audience will be invited to sing them. Formed in order to celebrate Mark E Smith’s 60th birthday, they’ve played sold-out shows across the…
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On Saturday, April 21, Dublin’s The Grand Social will play host to Rebellious Jukebox YEAH! – A Celebration of The Fall. Set to take place almost three months on from the passing of the late, great Mark E Smith, the event will feature live music from the likes of The 202s, Afterwardness, Niall Colfer, Dez Foley, Oranges, Richer Than Astronauts, Soft on Crime, Twinkranes and more to be announced, as well as video, spoken word/poetry and DJs. This has essential attendance written all over it. Tickets are priced €10 and are on sale now.
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Thanks to the likes of Emerald Armada, Raglans, Pat Dam Smyth (above), The Clameens, His New Atlas and others, there was yet another strong Irish presence at this year’s Liverpool Sound City. Photos by Christopher Flack. Thanks to the generous, becoming chaps at Getintothis.
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Only a fool writes off The Fall, a band that have had more returns to form than most bands have had records. With the current lineup now being their longest serving as a complete unit (aside from the recent addition of second drummer Daren Garratt), some have accused them of getting too comfortable and being in need of another shake-up like the days of old, since 2011’s sloppy Ersatz GB, a surprising misstep after the back-to-back excellence of Imperial Wax Solvent and Your Future Our Clutter before it. 2013’s Re-Mit then failed to fully compensate, being a mish-mash of greatness…
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A story less visited than the personnel changes of The Fall is that of the myriad labels they have called home over the years. Despite Mark E Smith’s aversion to nostalgia, many fans would no doubt look back at the 5 years they spent in the care of Beggars Banquet with fond regard. Coinciding with (Smith’s first wife) Brix’s tenure in the group, 1984-89 marked (amongst other things) their unlikely flirtation with mainstream success – with a few proper singles actually making the actual proper charts. This 5 CD box set is perhaps optimum illustration of why that success was…
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It’s never easy reviewing a new Fall album, mainly because – in the experience of this reviewer at least – Fall albums always sound terrible on first listen. You hear it and think “Boysadear, but this is a lot of ramshackle crap”. Then, insidiously – almost sneakily – some angular guitar hook or muttered guttural utterance embeds itself in your brain; you find yourself inexplicably returning again and again to this record that so baffled and frustrated you; fast forward a few weeks and you’re telling anyone who’ll listen that the new Fall album might just be their best ever…