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The Fall – Reformation Post TLC (Slogan)

The demented cackle that opens The Fall’s umpteenth opus says it all. Having lost the strongest incarnation of his band for years, Fall vocalist and gaffer Mark E Smith hired himself a brand new American combo, who make their recorded debut by assimilating themselves into his stock garage-band chug with aplomb. A typically messy patchwork of self-referential bile, freeform work-in-progress and, on Das Boat, what sounds like an epic piece of sound art, is the result. About to celebrate his 50th birthday, Smith seems to have discovered a whole new gruffness to his bark as he whines with some sense of resignation about how seven year cycles seem to happen every day. Best of all is a doleful version of Merle Haggard’s White Line Fever, the ultimate Country cruise discovering its North-West roots.

The Herald - February 2007

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