Ersatz GB

By official count The Fall’s 29th studio album, Ersatz G.B. is another solid collection of Mark E. Smith ramblings. Who else would write a nasty tune and name it “Greenway” after his band's current guitarist, Peter Greenway? Smith sounds particularly agitated as he recounts a series of mishaps regarding a band that's been nicking his sound, while the band grinds close to metallic. The keyboards comes out to play and the current Mrs. Smith, Elena Poulou, smooths over the ruffled feathers that are further ruffled on the brutal “Cosmos 7,” “Age of Chang," and “Nate Will Not Return” (where The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” is sped up and put through the Fall processor). “Monocard” spreads out for more than eight minutes, for the nearest thing to a jam that Smith is likely to allow. You can never count out The Fall. Just as Your Future Our Clutter announced that the group was revitalized, Ersatz G.B. takes that dominance and plays with it. Songs like these reveal themselves over the long haul, and Fall fans have proven up to the task.