Most reviews for records by The Fall usually start with something about the band's ever-shifting lineup, with musicians coming and going at a furious pace with the enigmatic Mark E. Smith standing firmly in the center of it all. More recent reviews will include a new tidbit that may negate the previous information: with Sub-Lingual Tablet, The Fall has now released an unprecedented five (five!) albums with the same lineup (albeit this time with a second drummer added to the band). This has caused some consternation among the band's fan base, and understandably so. Can a band that's always had a constantly revolving lineup over the past (almost) 40 years remain fresh and imaginative? Looking at the past four albums, the answer may be up for debate. Imperial Wax Solvent from 2008 and Your Future Our Clutter from 2010 saw the band reaching fantastic and impressive heights, making good use of Smith's maniac strut. 2011's Ersatz GB and 2013's Re-Mit, however, were unimpressive efforts with a handful of bright spots and many mediocre ones. Since then, The usually prolific Fall released a great EP, The Remainderer, and...that's it. 2014 saw no new material from the seasoned, prolific band. So, with a quiet year behind them, one can only assume Mark E. Smith and company come back feeling refreshed, right? Nope.
"Venice with the Girls" starts the album off with many of the characteristics of a modern day fall song: rambunctious instrumentation, a clean rockabilly influence and Mark E. Smith's recently adopted low growl. Following track "Black Door" completely pulls the rug out from under the previous song by hitting you with a 1960s bubblegum instrumental spewed through the rusty kaleidoscope of Mark E. Smith's shambled worldview. Two songs in and this album is shaping up to be a welcome return to The Fall's increasingly elusive consistency. Once "First One Today" rears it's lackluster head, that sinking feeling sets in: this is probably going to be yet another mixed bag affair.
If you're looking for quoted lyrics in this review, then you're obviously not familiar with singer(?) Mark E. Smith's increasing descent/ascent into marble-mouthed ambiguity. Figuring out what he is saying is part of the fun. Or it is part of the frustration, depending on which side of The Fall fence you find yourself on. On "Fibre Book Troll" Smith yarbles something about a Facebook troll and "Venice with the Girls" includes words about wary, well-to-do travelers (a favorite subject of Smith's). However, the lyrics continue to sound disconnected from the music, which is a problem that plagues the past couple of albums as well. It increasingly feels like Smith is shouting note book scrawls over random instrumentals he found. This isn't necessarily horrible, but it hurts more than it helps.
The 10-minute, formless scrawl "Auto Chip 2014 - 2016" is the clear winner on this album, as unlikely as that sounds. Longer songs in The Fall discography can be a dreadful proposition, to be honest. The band that produced "And This Day" and "Garden" is far, far in the past. The drab, aimless "Monocard" off of 2011's Ersatz GB can attest to this. But here, "Auto Chip..." delivers, with the band flexing their able muscles and Smith's maintaining his disgusted delivery throughout. It's one of those songs the could be twice as long and not lose it's steam.
The same can't be said for closer "Fibre Book Troll" which feels aimless, meandering and bloated. Apparently the vinyl version is almost twice as long, which guarantees that I'll be just fine with my digital copy of the album, thank you. It would be easier to say "another year, another Fall album," but it feels different this time. After the band's (relatively) long break between albums and (apparently) improved live shows, it's disappointing to receive another lopsided set of tracks. Being a fan of The Fall used to mean not knowing what to expect, but in recent years that has clearly changed. I'll definitely expect another middling effort once their next album drops. Let's hope they remember how to surprise their audience next time around.