Reformation Post TLC

Take a step back to the boiling summer of 2006. The Fall had just successfully completed three out of sixteen US tour dates when suddenly, controversy struck. As Mark E. Smith and keyboardist/wife Eleni Poulou slept soundly in their Phoenix hotel, the band's guitarists and drummer hopped on an international flight back to the UK in an angry huff. It's still uncertain what happened in the desert that May, but whatever it was, it helped take The Fall in a refreshing new direction. Smith and Poulou decided to move on with the tour, a new group of backing musicians were dispatched (a group of Americans?!), and eventually the puzzle pieces fell into place. The tour continued, their scheduled recording session in L.A. was completed, and the end result? The Fall's latest full length, Reformation Post T.L.C. Featuring twelve brand-new tunes set comfortably in angst-soaked garage rock mortar, Reformation Post T.L.C. stands as proof that it takes a lot more than some screwy controversy to stop the fate of Mark E. Smith. Having already inspired many indie rock bands from the early nineties through today, The Fall returns with a new album and a new lesson in rock `n' roll. Reformation Post T.L.C. is the band's latest studio full-length, and third for Narnack following 2005's critically acclaimed Fall Heads Roll. Emerging from working-class Manchester, The Fall formed in 1976 after vocalist and incomparably acid-tongued lyricist Mark E. Smith decided he wanted a more personal vessel for his words, ideas, and obsessions with literature. The group's first full-length, Live at the Witch Trials, soon followed. Many albums and member changes later, Mark E. Smith has lead The Fall into becoming what many critics consider to be the most prolific band of the British punk movement. With his philosophical wordplay, knowledge of appealing song structure, and bitterly controversial personality, Mark E. Smith has managed to front a band with not only a cult following, but an impressive record of success on both the UK and US charts.