The Fall - Fall Heads Roll

Label: Slogan
Catologue Number: SLOCD003
Format: CD
Date: 2005
Style: Alternative Rock/ Indie
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

To say The Fall have a rather large back catalogue is like saying beer makes you drunk, diet drinks always taste like pish when compared to the full sugar versions and Noel Emmonds is a cunt. As an on and off fan for the last 15 years, I’ve only picked up the occasional release by Mark E. Smith and his band of ever changing members. So it was with some heavy recommendation that the Fall Heads Roll was a bit of a corker that I finally got around to get my mitts on it and by gosh was the praise justified.

Fall Heads Roll sees the Fall sound stripped down to basics, there is none of the nods to electronica as seen on ‘The Unutterable’, what we get instead in the main is a full out punk-a-billy attack mixed with classic E Smith song writing and lyrics. One thing is for certain Mark E Smith hasn’t lost his biting edge although as usual it takes a while to decipher the cryptic lyrics hidden in utter his unique muttering vocal style.

The fact that there is not a weak track on the album is a fine thing. Previously you would be left gnashing your teeth at the more experimental side of The Fall and wondering why for every Lay of the Land or Hey Luciani! there was a God Box or Haf Found Bormann. Maybe its because its the first time The Fall have had a stable line-up since the late 70’s / mid 80’s that they sound so concentrated and direct.

From the all out stomp opening Ride Away to the more reflective closing Trust In Me via another classic cover I can hear the flowers grow, Fall Heads Roll just sounds so well formed. If they were one of the new breed of post punk revivalists then the music press would be creaming themselves over this release. However since this is ‘just another’ The Fall release it’s been routinely ignored in favour of the latest band with the right haircut.

Even I was guilty of thinking this was just another The Fall release. However its not, just like the Unutterable and the Infotainment Scan it reminds you that no matter what the era or the current trend Mark E. Smith is out there on his own still creating accessible music with an unique left-field edge and a passion and energy sadly lacking from the majority of indie acts.

Is Fall Heads Roll the best album by The Fall? Possibly. Does it make the majority of the current flock of indie bands sound shite? Definitely. Should you rush out and buy it? Affirmatively.

Fall Heads Roll is a triumph of the perennial underdog versus the mainstream blandness of alternative and indie rock. All hail The Fall –ah.