After two separate stints as guitarist with The Fall, Martin Bramah has re-formed the group he founded in 1980, and this retrospective collection gathers together bits and bobs from both phases of the band's career. Doing time with Mark E. Smith had a predictable effect on Bramah, whose half-sneered, half-drawled vocals threaten to disintegrate when in sight of the upper register. The bulk of these songs are characterised by an agreeably shuffling mix of cheesy organ, sketchy guitars and muffled drumbeats - an undemonstrative sound which suggests a post-punk Velvet Underground with Northern knobs on. Bad Education and Low Profile, however, aspire to an altogether higher plane - the shadowy textures of the instrumentation lit up by two pristine pop melodies.

Paul Davies

Q Magazine