Their most creatively fertile and universally loved period (’81-’89) brought out the deeper influence of psychedelia, dub reggae, the ambient records of Eno, and glam racketeers like Bowie and T. The early days were informed by the ’70s greats who also knew a thing or two about repetition: the Stooges, Can, Kraftwerk, Neu!, and the Velvet Underground.
All the better for MES to sing, shout, spit, and snarl over the top of.Įvery era of the Fall Sound has a precedent. But no matter who is playing or in what style they happen to be playing, the emphasis is on repetitive melodies and clockwork rhythms. And the music changes in some small or huge way with each person brought into the lineup. The sound is constantly in flux, reacting to or absorbing influences from around them.
It’s a quote that gets thrown around often in response to the parade of musicians (upwards of 60 by my rough count) that were hired and fired, joined and quit during the nearly 40 years of the band’s existence.Īnother popular quote that has followed the band around since 1977 sets the template for the the Fall’s sound (or the “Fall Sound” as MES proclaimed it 30 years later on the album Reformation Post TLC): “Repetition in the music and we’re never going to lose it…This is the three Rs…repetition, repetition, repetition.” They felt this aesthetic deeply enough that those were the lyrics to a song on the band’s very first single.Ĭombined they provide the perfect rough guide for anyone experiencing the Fall’s music for the first time. Smith (MES), the mercurial, irascible, and incredible leader of the legendary post-punk band. “If it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s the Fall.” So sayeth Mark E.