Room to Live

The Fall begin down the road of malign dictatorship, as Mark E. Smith convenes different versions of the band without notifying the rest. “Mark reading aloud his objections to today’s paper” is a style in full bloom here, and the results are better than many suggest. It’s nice to have a Fall album with a bit of air in it. The first side of this album? Absolutely one of my favorites. “Joker Hysterical Face” into “Marquis Cha Cha” into “Hard Life In Country” into “Room To Live”? That would be up there with the Slates EP. Not sure I’ve ever listened to the second side.