By the beginning of the 1990s, The Fall were barely recognisable from the band who’d given the world ‘Live At The Witch Trials’ just over a decade earlier. Mark E. Smith’s fearless approach had steered the band down broader musical avenues, far beyond their punky roots, and the line up of The Fall that delivered the brilliant ‘Extricate’ album in 1990 were a hugely sophisticated musical unit. The flirtations with a Manchester influenced indie sound and a few dance oriented beats on tunes like ‘Telephone Thing’ from that album, and the synth based sounds on tunes like ‘The Mixer’ and ‘Sinister Waltz’ (from the following year’s ‘Shift-Work’) may have lost them a few fans, but regular coverage in the music press and a desire to stay contemporary won The Fall new admirers. By the time of the recording 1993’s ‘The Infotainment Scan’, The Fall’s “90s sound” had really found its feet.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Popscene: From Baggy To Britpop 1989-1994
The early nineties were an exciting time for guitar based music. Grunge dominated the rock scene, but as any avid viewer of the ITV Chart Show will tell you, circa 1992, the indie chart was brimming with great bands, often more of a UK vintage. Shoegaze sounds captured the underground; jangly indie acts – like The La’s and World of Twist – celebrated more of a 60s vintage, and the social commentary that drove bands like Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine and The Wonder Stuff found itself crossing over for massive chart success.
JOE GENI – Cities Built Upon Cities
When a promotional blurb suggests an artist is influenced by music as diverse as The Police, DJ Shadow and Claude Debussy, it’s hard to know what to expect. Is this record label hype? Is it a case of a performer clutching at straws, hoping that something will attract the potential listener? When it comes to singer songwriter Joe Geni, such wild claims…really aren’t so wild. His 2021 album ‘Doggerland’ offers a mad hybrid sound where the mood lurches all over the place. Just exploring the track ‘Superbloom’ in isolation, Geni takes the light Afro rhythms of Peter Gabriel tunes like ‘Mercy Street’ and fuses them with a bit of electronica, then adds a huge vocal that occasionally sounds like something David MacAlmont would turn into an absolute showstopper. Then, there’s the lengthy ‘Eyes Like The Ocean’ which bends what would’ve been a great pop-rock sound – akin to a moody deep cut from Sting – and adorns that with an almost trip-hop like atmosphere.
CHEN FIRSEL – Believe In The Ending Of The War EP
Chen Firsel’s ‘Believe In The Ending of The War’ is more than just an EP. It’s a three track “song cycle” that sends a message to the world, straight from the heart of Israel.
ROB MOSS AND SKIN-TIGHT SKIN – Records
In punk terms, Rob Moss mightn’t be a household name, but he’s been a part of the US alternative scene forever. He’s been a member of Government Issue, Artificial Peace and, in his own words “a bunch of other bands”, and much like Kurt Baker, that Muck dude from Muck & The Mires and Dan Kopko – who features on this 2024 release – his relative lack of fame really doesn’t matter. What he has brought over the years in terms of musical energy and enthusiasm is far more important.