12/17/2007
The Fall's Dragnet: An Album for Abandoned Machinery
Do you remember that movie The Brave Little Toaster? It is a story about this little toaster who goes on a journey with an electric blanket, a vacuum cleaner, a lamp, and a radio to find the boy who left them in a log cabin. These appliances have been alone for years and as they "wake up" and come to understand their abandonment, I imagine in a non-Disney version of this movie, they would sound a lot like The Fall on their album Dragnet.
I know this is a bizarre comparison, but dig it: every time I listen to Dragnet, I think of abandoned, rusted machinery coming to life. There is a lot of mechanical spitting and coughing, bouts of rattling and screeching, ungreased metallic joints flexing and contracting. Like a car that hasn't been driven in years, suddenly is taken out for a joy ride and after the initial combustive shock of automation, the car hits its' stride and cruises down the highway. Even a lot of the guitar sounds on this record remind me of finnicky odometer or thermometer needles, bouncing about at their random will. This is basically exactly what I think the opening song on this album, "Psykick Dancehall," sounds like.
Another song on this record I absolutely adore is "Dice Man." This one does not sound as abrasive as other tracks on the album, it has a more ballsy, risky sound. As it should, since it challenges fans to take chances with their music and not to be one to "stay with the masses, don't take any chances, end up emptying ashtrays." This is a song for musicians with guts. A song for those who aren't afraid to gamble their career for the sake of creating something different, even if the results of their gambling sounds like rusty toasters waking up their sleepy appliance friends to find some truth in their mechanized world.
Pick up this record and make sure your toaster is plugged in!
MP3
Download 'The Fall - Psykick Dancehall'3:48 | 4.44MB
Download 'The Fall - Dice Man'1:46 | 2.10MB
Posted by Emily on 12/17/2007 11:19 AM in 70's Punk
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