Not the Fall, but who is?

OK, first a word about my marathon. I did a 3:50, which would be fairly disgraceful if I were 25, but is not so, so bad when I am 47. I felt pretty good afterwards. I listened to tunes the whole way, on random, and decided that...

1. BRMC's "American X" may not be a great song overall, but it is a fantastic song for running long distance to. It goes on and on, and envelopes you in a dark, echoey cave. If you listen to it twice in a row, you can get 2 miles out of the way just like that.

2. Glenn Mercer's "Wheels in Motion" is quite possibly a great song, but its languid beat and insistence that there is no hurry about ANYTHING is simply not helpful.

3. It is good to have friends along. When Dustdevil's version of "Hip Priest" came on, it was like having a good buddy cheering from the sidelines...when Dave DeCastro's "All that Remains" followed, I felt like the god of random shuffling was looking out for me.

4. You can't really listen to music after about 21 miles. You hear it. You can't process it. You also can't count to ten.

Oh, and I have a review up today, of a band that sort of, kind of sounds like the FAll, but I forgive them because I don't think they actually meant to copy.


XX Teens
Welcome to Goon Island
(Mute)
US release date: 30 September 2008
UK release date: 28 July 2008

by Jennifer Kelly

Another Prole Art Threat

The Fall would have to rank high on anybody’s list of bands impossible to imitate. Even if you got the right rumbly-clanking bass line, even if the drums were suitably claustrophobic and robotic, even if you found an arresting but meaningless phrase to repeat over and over, the fact remains: you are not Mark E. Smith. End of story. So, when I say that XX Teens come close, that’s not nothing. It’s a fairly remarkable accomplishment. It’s even more impressive since it may not be what they’re aiming for.

Welcome to Goon Island is the first full-length for this London-based, art-school-credentialed quintet, a barrage of stuttering, bass-buzzing beats; oblique, sometimes surreally funny lyrics; and stinging, minimalist guitars. That’s the basic recipe, but there is no shortage of added ingredients. You will also hear, at various intervals, a full-brass band, a 2 Tone saxophone, steel drums, syrupy harp arpeggios and a long monologue with peace activist Brian Haws. The phrase “anything goes” comes to mind.

Read the rest here

“Darlin’”