Mark E Smith claimed that this is the strongest Fall album in years. While on their US tour, Narnack met with The Fall for the first time. The hip priest of punk literally just broke his hip in the UK from a slip on the ice. Mark denied Doctor’s orders and continued with plans for a full US tour. Despite a metal rod in his leg Mark E. walked over with crutches to greet us, looking like the toughest motherfucker we’ve ever seen. It was inspiring. For someone who is notorious for shunning the press and being somewhat difficult, our experience with Mark proved quite different. Mark’s wicked sense of humor, excitement and passion for music makes his desire to talk about this album infectious. For “The Real New Fall LP” Mark took control over the sound, direction and texture of the album. Originally, recordings of this LP were leaked onto the net with horrible big label production. Officially released in the UK on Action Records, Mark still wasn’t satisfied with the overall sound. For this Narnack release Mark wanted to strip it down even more and decided to re-master the entire album. This energetic momentum prompted The Fall to also add two brand new tracks and two alternate remixes. The end result of this fervid, creative, output is an album that carries the excitement and freshness of early Fall. With “The Real New Fall LP” The Fall focuses everything that makes them great onto one album avoiding filler and laziness. It’s a brooding swirl of dark, dance-y, rock songs full of electronic undercurrents that act like a shot of some bad coke in the mainline. Yet throughout, the wit and charm of Mark E. Smith permeates each track. The lyrics seem wiser but definitely not more sober. This was Mark E. Smith reclaiming his throne.