Since the turn of the century,
the Fall
's output has been as predictable as
Rush
's old "three studio albums, then a live one" way of doing things. For
it's "one cracking, great album, then one that's shoddily put together and a stick in the eye of fans." Compilations from outside sources -- which have been generally very good since 2000 -- muddle up the sequence a bit, but we're talking band-approved releases, which the lackluster live/rehearsals/leftovers
Interim
is. It beats the band's last leftovers and whatnot release -- 2002's
2G+2
-- by a mile, but so did those faceless, dreaded
Receiver
comps. "Comments will be ignored" scribbled right on the cover should be dead giveaway number one that this is another "fans only" release, but as anyone who's traded
Fall
bootlegs can tell you, there's better stuff to be had. With stumbling versions of
"Sparta FC,"
"Green Eyed Loco-Man"
(here it's
"Green-Eyed Snorkel"
), and
"Mere Pseud Mag Ed,"
you've got to believe that
's track list was chosen by some evil dart board that hates fans and loves horrible, audience-sourced recordings. On the slightly positive side, the new track
"Blindness"
is exciting, hearing main man
Mark E. Smith
double track his vocals and insert odd overdubs is interesting, and the smoke detector alarm that's audible for the last quarter of
"Boxoctosis Alarum"
is a typical, cheeky
move that loyalists eat up. It doesn't add up to enough to recommend the album to anyone but the insanely hardcore, but at least
brings more reminders of the "what the heck?"
Twenty Seven Points
than the "who cares?"
. But hey, "Comments will be ignored," so there ya go! ~ David Jeffries