Five reasons to go and see: The Fall

1: For 33 years, 100 albums, 50 ex-members
A brilliant, capricious garage-rock mob helmed by Manchester alchemist Mark E Smith (above), The Fall are among the most enduring and vital cult-pop conduits in our history: they were famously idolised by John Peel, and have inspired a legion of aural insurgents from Pavement to LCD Soundsystem. Plus Smith could teach the Sugababes a thing or two about personnel changes.

2: For ‘the dark crystal moon looked blue faced into my snatch’
Smith’s irascible, fragmented narratives are unrivalled: he’s one of our greatest, and most judicious, lyricists.

3: For the showmanship
Prolific, pigheaded and volatile, Smith is a cocksure monarch in alternative rock, and exhibits little intention of letting up: as evinced on The Fall’s belting forthcoming album, Your Future Our Clutter (see review, page 66).

4: For the romance
Frank Skinner interviewed MES for The Culture Show in 2007. Smith unleashed a chivalrous streak by offering his sister to Skinner as a wife.

5: For your memoirs
Smith may not turn up. He may not be conscious. He may be cantankerous. He may be awesome. There may be a love-in. There may be a punch up. But whatever the outcome, in years to come, you can say, ‘I saw The Fall …’

More: Music, Previews (Music), The Fall

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