Now in his 54th year, the irrepressible Mark E Smith is still going strong. Over the past few years, he has participated in quality collaborations with artists as diverse as Mouse On Mars and Gorillaz, and, of course, he has continued to knock out Fall albums.
Your Future Our Clutter – Smith’s 28th LP under the Fall moniker, for those who are counting – has precious little new to offer, but given that The Fall were a pioneering musical force to begin with, we can forgive them if they sound a little derivative of themselves. The fact is, The Fall do The Fall rather well. There are the familiar touches of art-punk, abrasive lo-fi and driving angular rhythms, but throughout the album’s nine tracks, The Fall continually sound fresh and invigorated, never once slipping into a lazy jam or taking the easy option.
The best song of all is ‘Chino’, which is based around a killer punk-funk groove. The concluding ‘Weather Report 2’, meanwhile, is a winning mixture of Can-style Krautrock and low-key ambience. So, even after 34 years, The Fall are still making quality records. Thank God for the dependable things in life.