The Fall - Live at the Witch Trials
1979
There's something about Mark E. Smith's voice where, when he says something, it sticks in your mind. Like, you might be searching for the perfect pair of socks in a department store and all of a sudden hear a disembodied voice yell “spoilt Victorian child!”
When I think of this album I hear “we were early and we were late, but still, live at the witch trials!” Of course, being the deliberately unconventional band that they were, that intro doesn't come until close to the end of the album. With so much Fall to listen to, so much diversity to sort out, why does this album come out on top? Are all the best Fall songs on this album? Is it the most cohesive, is it the best unity The Fall has achieved? Hardly.
Because The Fall is not really a band about unity. They operate on schisms and conflicts; the struggle within the band metamorphoses into a chaotic, disparaging aesthetic that manages to be entirely unique, even though it constantly references and imitates. It is in this spirit that I would elect this as their greatest album; not only is the conflict between MES and the rest of the band already present, but there is also the uncertain ground of a starting band, MES has not fully adopted his role as band leader yet so there is also his internal conflict. As such, this is also perhaps the most democratic Fall record, and there is more of a focus on instrumental interplay.
MES plays a character better than any band leader I can think of at the moment. From the first line in “Frightened” you're overwhelmed by the paranoia, discomfort, outsiderness. Every line is perfectly accentuated by the music--utterly claustrophobic, repetitive, convulsive; it gets under your skin and stays there. The schism between the steady, driving stepwise rhythm section and the freeform guitar only furthers the sense of alienation.
“Crap Rap 2/Like to Blow” is one of those songs you tend to gloss over, but if you really listen to it and try to discern why it's forgettable, you find that it's slightly hard to listen to. Parts of it sound like they can barely hold themselves together, before releasing only slightly into the chorus. It's a very asthmatic song, it gives a feeling of constipation and anxiety, and it leaves you reaching for catharsis. Which is where the next song comes in. “Rebellious Jukebox” delivers the goods--a timeless Fall anthem. “Make music to itself, make music for itself...”
This is the idealist MES, who already paints himself the absurd hero, a step behind but “still one step ahead of you.” It is this mixture of absurdity and elitism which makes The Fall the ultimate record collector's band... that and their immense discography. But unlike their later releases, this record sits on no history, it does not have to concern itself with smashing its own past. In that sense it is also the ultimate Fall expression, before they had to turn away from themselves. But maybe it's too indebted to punk?
I love the line, “What's this song about?”
“Oh, it's about nothing.”
It's like a seesaw
it's like an up-and-down
mother-sister mother-sister!
Oh why did you push your head in?
The album sticks together in a scattered and undirected kind of way. The songs sound strange, but in a predictable kind of way. The real gems of the album come at the end. In “Two Steps Back” MES intones “everybody likes me/they think I am crazy/they pull my string and I do my thing.” “I don't need the acid factories/I got mushrooms in the fields.” As perfect a declaration of intent as I've ever come across.
“Futures and Pasts” is a rambling interrogation of the human condition.
“Music Scene” sounds vaguely bitter. It sounds like the jaded and restrained cousin to “Sister Ray,” the song which is driven not by its internal volition/volatility but by external forces. The studio that forces the song to keep going and fill up the album, the other music groups they must relate to for “listenability,” and of course the fans themselves. It's the ideal conclusion to an album that spits on everything.