The Fall
Reformation Post TLC

THE REVIEW

It is unclear if the music is a base for MES's hallucinatory ravings or if his tirades support the obsessive riffs of the music. And this is good.

MES seems to be in great shape: it's a MES as cynical, wicked, and full of sarcastic laughter, brimming with disdain for everything and everyone as ever. He revels in chaos, when everything goes to hell. So it must be a good period since he just ditched yet another band and recruited another one for this album. And you can tell he's merry, starting from the laughter that opens the record. How bastard is MES, he enjoys mocking, even the listener, especially the listener. It's clear, then, that if you don't like being mocked, you should look elsewhere.

It's all a succession of delirious and maniacal self-referentiality. It starts with "Over Over!" (it's over, it's starting! meaning the adventure of The Fall is over but a new one is starting as always: hatred and mockery towards the old band), then "Reformation post TLC" (hatred and mockery towards bands that reform for money and play old songs, not him, he puts out a new album every year), "Fall sound" (hatred and mockery towards all bands that aren't The Fall, i.e., him: MES), "Insult Song" (hatred and mockery towards... well, as if it isn't obvious with such a title), "My Door is Never Open" (what a surprise) and still "Das Boat" (ten minutes of tribute ???? Krautrock mockery) "Systematic Abuse" (still full of love for the next Mark, right?).

In short, 1 hour of hatred and mockery, never before has the line between mockery and serious and badass rock 'n roll been so blurred. And that's what makes 'Reformation Post TLC' so exciting. The listener feels challenged, threatened, intimidated, confronted by MES in a way that no current band of just-weaned English rascal daredevils can even remotely approach. The songs? They're all very simple, a few bass-driven chords repeated endlessly and MES raving like a madman. Oh but it's a raving in great form. This time he seems to be trying all possible grimaces, all the distorted, crazy insane voices he can produce. You can tell he's really having fun. Sure, if you're looking for melodies, once again I say: look elsewhere, although in "White Line Fever" perhaps, oh dear, what do my ears hear... he seems to even... sing!???! .

In short, like almost every Fall record, these songs should be crap if analyzed from a rational point of view. Why instead they sound good, I don't know. Try listening to them.