Album Review: The Fall – The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click) 20th anniversary reissue

With 31 studio albums to choose from, there are very few fans of The Fall wo will ever definitively agree, which are the best 5 of all time. It can be as simple as who your favourite line-up was, and there were many it has to be said, or at what point in their career did you first discover them? From 1979’s debut Live At The Witch Trials to New Facts Emerge released in 2017, it’s a body of work that twists and turns, with some amazing high points, with even the lows still eclipsing many other bands who came after. However, one LP which consistently makes it into most Fall fans top 5 is 2003’s The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country On The Click).

So named because promotional copies of the original mix of the album, called Country on The Click, appeared on the internet, of which MES later said “The frustration is when people embellish what you’re doing. I thought this LP was perfect round about March. But then you trust people—them who shall remain nameless—to go away and mix it and it comes back sounding like Dr. Who meets Posh Spice. You have to go back in and strip it down to what it basically was.” Originally slated for a April release, the remixed version appeared in October, by which time it had been renamed The Real New Fall LP to differentiate it from the earlier version. The old title still appeared in brackets on the spine of the release. It was critically acclaimed when it finally saw the light of day, with some even calling it amongst the best work the band had ever produced and Uncut in particular, calling it “great by Smith’s standards. Practically genius by everybody else’s”. With tracks like Theme From Sparta FC, which the BBC used for several years as the bed to their Saturday football results programme, nu-metalesque Contraflow, with MES channelling his inner Beefheart and Proteinprotection, it fully deserves its position near the top of the Fall tree! Of course, again like many Fall fans, ask me next month and my position may have well changed!! Embrace the Wonderful and Frightening (and fluid) World Of The Fall!!

This newly released and repackaged 20^th Anniversary version on Cherry Red Records is available as a 5CD boxset, which includes the original mix of Country On The Click on disc two. It’s interesting to see how that original album, which was scheduled to be 11 tracks, morphed into 12, with 2 new songs, several bearing altered titles and 1 track not even making the final cut (Susan V Youthclub).

As well the two versions of the LP disc 3 has the part live/part studio album Interim, which features the first officially released versions of “Clasp Hands“, “Blindness” and “What About Us?” – all of which were later included on the band’s next studio album Fall Heads Roll (2005) – as well as the instrumental “I’m Ronnie the Oney“. The remaining tracks are all new versions of previously released songs, mostly from studio rehearsal recordings.

Interim was originally to be titled Cocked – the alternate title was given on a promotional CD for “Blindness”, which also gave the track’s title as “Blind Man”.

Disc 4 contains singles and session tracks from the same time period, including the track cut from the original Country On The Click, “Susan V Youthclub”, which was released as a single. It also includes the four tracks from their 23^rd John Peel Session, which was the original cause of MES deciding to delay release and re-record some of the tracks, leading to The Real New Fall LP.

Disc 5 contains the full live recording of their New York gig “Live at The Knitting Factory –9 April 2004.
As usual with Cherry Red Record releases, this comes nicely packaged with notes by Fall expert Daryl Easlea.

There is also a vinyl version released but this only contains the album, with no extra recordings.

Track Listing

Disc 1
The Real New Fall LP Formerly ‘Country on The Click’
1 Green Eyed Loco-Man
2 Mountain Energei
3 Theme From Sparta F.C.
4 Contraflow
5 Last Commands of Xyralothep Via M.E.S.
6 Open The Boxoctosis #2
7 Janet, Johnny + James
8 The Past #2
9 Loop41 `Houston
10 Mike’s Love Xexagon
11 Proteinprotection
12 Recovery Kit

Disc 2
Country on The Click (Original Version)
1 Sparta
2 Protein Protection
3 Mountain Energei
4 Contraflow
5 Green Eyed
6 Boxoctosis
7 Ho(E)uston
8 The Past
9 Recovery Kit
10 Mike’s Love Xexagon
11 Susan V Youthclub

Disc 3
Interim
1 All Clasp Hands
2 Blindness
3 What About Us?
4 I’m Ronney The Oney
5 Green-Eyed Snorkel
6 Mod Mock Goth
7 Wrong Place
8 Sparta FC No:3
9 Mere Pseud Mag Ed
10 Spoilt Victorian Childe
11 Boxoctosis Alarum

Disc 4
Singles / Sessions
1 Susan Vs Youthclub – Single
2 Janet Vs Johnny – B-Side
3 Susan Vs Youthclub – Remix
4 (We Wish You A) Protein Christmas – Single
5 (We Are) Mod Mock Goth – Single
6 (Birtwistle’s) Girl in Shop – Single
7 Recovery Kit 2 # – Single
8 (We Are) Mod Mock Goth – US Album Edit
9 Theme From Sparta F.C. #2 – Single
10 My Ex-Classmate’s Kids (Live Cologne 2001) – B-Side
11 Portugal (aka Debacle (For the Record)) – B-Side
12 Theme from Sparta F.C. – Peel Session
13 Contraflow – Peel Session
14 Grooving With Mr Bloe / Green-Eyed Loco Man – Peel Session
15 Mere Pseud Mag Ed. – Peel Session

Disc 5
Live at The Knitting Factory – New York – 9 April 2004
1 Horror In Clay
2 Boxoctosis
3 Contraflow
4 Middle Mass
5 Mere Pseud Mag Ed
6 Mountain Energei
7 I Can Hear the Grass Grow
8 Telephone Thing
9 Theme From Sparta F.C.
10 Janet, Johnny and James
11 Groovin’ With Mr Bloe / Green Eyed Loco Man
12 Walk Like a Man
13 Mr Pharmacist
14 Mike’s Love Xexagon / We Are Mod Mock Goth
15 I Am Damo Suzuki
16 Dr Buck’s Letter
17 Loop 41