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The other day, John Scott and I were talking about how difficult it is to formulate our staff picks lately. Right now things are pedal-to-the-metal busy at Sorry State, and while I always have music playing, I haven’t felt immersed in anything, so it’s difficult to answer the question “what have you been listening to?” While putting up flyers for the Anniversary Weekend all around North Carolina, I picked up a few bits and bobs at the record stores I visited, and I’ve played those, but I’m not ready to write about them yet. So, this week I thought I’d write about an old favorite that I’ve spun a few times lately: the Fall.
I consider myself an introvert, by which I mean social interactions tire me out, while time alone energizes me. It’s not an all-or-nothing thing… I love people, but without regular doses of solitary time, I feel like I’m losing my mind. I know plenty of people for whom the exact opposite is the case, and they go stir-crazy when they’re alone too much. My wife, Jet, is one of those people, but the older we get, the more we learn how to support one another. Case in point, my friend Mike’s birthday party at the beach that I wrote about in my staff pick last week. We left for the beach Friday evening after work, and while some of my work days at Sorry State consist almost entirely of sitting alone in my office staring at a computer screen, this wasn’t one of those. I had gone out to Durham to put up flyers that morning, stopping at all the local record stores and chit-chatting with my colleagues. I raced from there to a meeting with Amanda from RUMAH to go over details about the punk market and day show for the Anniversary Weekend, then went straight into a long Zoom meeting with the vendor for Sorry State’s new inventory and order management system. (Did I mention our Anniversary Weekend is coinciding with a major technology overhaul? GREAT TIMING!)
By the time we got on the road to the beach, I was already spent. Jet is in the middle of applying for a new job she’s excited about, and she really wanted to talk about that on the drive down. However, my nerves were fried after a day filled with social interaction (so much small talk!) and I needed to spend some time in my head, especially since we were driving right into a full-on party situation. In the past, our conflicting desires might have resulted in a huge fight, but Jet was supportive, and even suggested we listen to an album I like to relax. She suggested the Fall’s second album, Dragnet.
I hadn’t listened to Dragnet in ages; in fact, when I went to play it, I realized it wasn’t even in my Apple Music library. Crazy! Thankfully, it was easy enough to dial up, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Maybe one reason I don’t listen to Dragnet very often is that it’s just so good that it’s tough to do anything but pay attention to it while it’s playing. It grabs you by the throat, leading off with the classic “Psychic Dance Hall,” then the hits just keep coming... “A Figure Walks,” “Dice Man,” “Before the Moon Falls...” fuck, what a record! For me, those tracks represent the apogee of the early Fall sound... naïve melodies, rickety execution, the 3 R’s... they’ve totally figured it out here. Then there’s “Spectre vs Rector,” which points the way toward the more stretched-out and artier sound they would hone over their next few records, particularly Slates and Hex Enduction Hour. By the end of the drive, as the “deluxe edition” submerged us in a sea of bonus tracks (five separate takes of “Rowche Rumble!”), I felt like a new man.
Incidentally, Dragnet is one of only a handful of records I own redundant copies of. My first copy was a slightly battered first pressing that was a gift from my friend Tom Ellis. This is ages ago, when Static Shock Records was but a glimmer in Tom’s eye, and I was driving his old band the Shitty Limits on their second US tour. Tom asked me if I needed him to punk post anything over for me. I jokingly said “an original pressing of Dragnet,” and he made it happen! Then, some years later, I was browsing at Bull City Records in Durham and I found a pristine UK second pressing priced attractively, as everything at Bull City is. I had to upgrade, but since my starter copy has so much sentimental value, I don’t think I can get rid of it.
The Fall came up again this weekend while I was doing a bunch of repetitive work. A lack of foresight on my part resulted in a colossal stack of print material that needed to be scored and cut by hand... I’m talking dozens of hours of work, which would be tough to pawn off on SSR’s staff since we’re all slammed at the moment. I’ve been spending every spare moment at my kitchen table plowing through that, with records, podcasts, and movies to keep me company. Not that I’m complaining! My hands being busy and my mind and ears being free is my ideal state of affairs. Yesterday afternoon I listened to the new episode of my favorite show on BBC 6 Music, Stuart Maconie’s The Freak Zone, and Hex Enduction Hour was their featured album this week. I was happy to hear the tracks they played, though I got this weird impression that Maconie was holding back on giving any praise to the album. Maybe it’s because his BBC6 colleague Mark Riley plays on it?
I’m in trouble if Mark E. Smith is my guardian angel, but I appreciate the Fall swooping in to carry me away to my happy place twice in the past couple of weeks. If you’re familiar with Sorry State at all, you know my drive to hear and learn about new (and new-to-me) music is massive, but it’s nice to remember how soothing your favorite band / song / album can be, even when it’s as knotty and abrasive as the Fall.