The Marshall Suite

About

<i>The Marshall Suite</i> elicits a wide range of opinions from hardcore Fall fans. It's either a comeback or a disappointment. What's for certain is that it's the first Fall album after what was a defining career moment for the group. Mark E. Smith and his then-members got into a fight onstage in New York City, and Smith ended up in jail without a band. He quickly reassembled the group, retaining only keyboardist/guitarist/programmer Julia Nagle. The new members give Smith a similar but fresh outlook on music, with the band revisiting the rockabilly interests of the early Fall with a touch of the electronics that informed albums such as <i>The Infotainment Scan</i> and <i>Cerebral Caustic</i>. Covers of The Saints' "This Perfect Day" and Tommy Blake's "F-'Oldin Money" reflect the band's eclectic tastes, while "(Jung Nev's) Antidotes" turns up the noise with a lurching beat and overmodulating synths for one of the group's most excited tracks. The album is also said to be a concept album about "The Crying Marshall," though Smith's approach is always too fractured to make linear sense.

via Apple Music