Mark E Smith's latest public offering has already triggered widespread vitriolic reaction both in reviews (see a "true fan"s' reaction on Pitchfork, for example) and on the official website's message board. The concern stems principally from a myopic view that the "fans" simply do not deserve to be handed the shoddy production, half-arsed rehearsal / live takes and sub-Peel Session 24 versions which comprise the material on 'Interim'.
I have some news for the complainants. You DO deserve this. It is, in fact, exactly what you merit. There is every excuse for the way Interim has been put together as a squealing and strangled package, like a jagged-edge jack-in-the-box whose lid just will not close shut. The primary excuse being that any behaviour from a man (and The Fall is, of course, and has been for over 90% of its history, a man and not a band) who has so religiously trodden a path of such stringent anti-entertainment (thereby entertaining us all that much more profoundly) is excusable and requires no explanation. For the timid, however, the author has this time been kind enough to place surprisingly coherent warnings firmly on the tin. Reading between the lines, the specific comments that 'the results [of these rehearsal and live takes] are up to you to decide, to decide but you' should offer hint enough to the wary. Put another way, this is a pile of crap, but I know enough of you fans will buy it, and enough of you fans will enjoy it, to keep me in Tetleys until the funds flow in from the next tour / LP; but choose to fund me expecting polish, you will lose, and lose heavily, and "comments will be ignored." Indeed, for a man who has consistently viewed his The Fall more as a means of survival, as opposed to a vehicle for artistic release and self-promotion, such hints to persons not to rush in and buy the product must grate. While this stance is rare from someone who is, to all intents and purposes, an artist, it is the misunderstanding of this attitude which itself causes releases such as Totale's Turns, 2G+2 and Interim (not to mention the myriad "Live" and compilation releases (which, you should note, are never disowned for reasons of artistic integrity nor, I doubt, will they ever be)) to be equally misunderstood.
So, it confounds me how anyone other than the unfortunate, uninitiated person for some reason enticed into acquiring the CD following an attraction to the scribbled cover (can any such person exist?) can react to Interim and claim they have been cheated. As the more lucid often point out, MES does not care for his audience. They are a necessary evil, and help keep him and the kids off the dole.
That said, Interim is for the most part wonderful. Of the new tracks, "Blindness" and "What About Us" stand out. Heavy and sore racketing thumbs pummelling along like Fall rollercoasters of old. "I'm Ronney The Oney" cuts off abruptly when it could have run a full "Bremen Nacht" course and, who knows, may be one day it will do. The remaining reworked / live versions of old songs include a tremendous take on "Spoilt Victorian Child" with added 'e', "Sparta FC No. 3" and "Mere Pseud Mag Ed" which, unfortunately, is not quite as knock 'em dead as the Peel Session 23 version, but is powerful nonetheless.
Interim is a pile of old crap. Interim makes me smile and has my foot a-tappin'. How MES can still be so far ahead of the game is becoming less of a mystery to me now. It is interesting that the only other persons I know whose habitual monikers include a reference to the middle initial are the Presidents of the US of A. And Mark E Smith does have one thing in common with Dubya - if you make up all the rules, you really cannot lose.
