The Fall marathon 11: Reformation Post TLC

When I was a lad, there was one irrefutable proof that you were a true fan of a band. When talk turned to a classic record, you would know that you knew and loved this record better than anyone if you could declare: "I got it on the day it came out".

Of course, as age encroaches and the matter of bills and other such mundane use of money envelop our souls, we realise that it doesn't really matter what day you get a record on. It'll still be there next week, and it'll sound the same. And so we slide into a gentler relationship with our bands, and they slowly cease to be ours.

Sometimes though, you have to say to hell with maturity and keep the flame of obsessive passion alive, to keep a faith that this incidental luxury called music can be a transformative, vital part of life. So, here is the new Fall album, and I got it on the day it came out.

This is, of course, a brand-new lineup since "Fall Heads Roll", and there's a certain feeling of the band bedding in. Initial impressions: this year's style is minimalist - I'm reminded of the Monks album I was listening to the other day in the pounding, aggressive, repetitive riffing on display through much of this album. There's a lengthy and testing collage-y track ("Das Boat") the like of which hasn't been seen on a Fall album for a good while, and this seems one of MES's more belligerent outings of recent years. Plenty of sly humour if you want to find it, though - "I think they've over-done the Trout Mask thing" comments Smith at one point, only to quote "Veterans' Day Poppy" from that album a few tracks later. And "The Wright Stuff" offers a very funny lambasting of Celebrity culture, all the better for being delivered dead-pan by Elena Poulou (aka Mrs Smith) to an unexpectedly synth-pop backing. And the cover of "White Line Fever" is surprisingly affecting.

You need a few listens of any Fall album to get your head round it, really, so who knows what I'll make of it next week? That's the joy of it - knots to unravel, puzzles that twist and turn and shape-shift with every new look. As John Peel said - always different, always the same.

This is the end of the Fall marathon... for now. It's also my 100th post on this blog. I didn't plan it that way, honest.