The Fall — Wise Ol Man
As any long term follower/ fan of The Fall will tell you- the band are predictable in the unpredictable quality of their output. You’ll get a great almost wholly consistent album, then the next one will be highly mixed, then the one after that will only have a few notable moments with the rest seeing the band on auto-pilot. And really there is little rhyme or reason to these shifts in a quality, and these tendencies make any venture into their large discography both frustrating & rewarding- like pick though a box of chocolates- no knowing what you’ll get next.
On the whole Wise Ol’man is one of the lesser releases from the band, and this isn’t down to this been a EP;… as their last EP 2013's The Remainderer was pretty great. But it’s down to the mainly lacklustre selection of tracks, and the way more than few tracks here seem sloppy, and stretching sonic ideas way too far.
The EP opens with the first new track "Wise Ol’ Man"- which presents a rather uninspired chugging & spiralling riff topped with a bland & messy mix female punk chanted vocals, and Mark E Smith at his most muffled- thankful the whole thing only last just over three minutes. Next up we have the first of the more lengthy & lose jam like tracks, and this comes in the form of "All Leave Cancelled". The track brings together a very messy, dragged-out, and shape-less blend simmering & sustained guitar effects, stop & start percussion, buzzing blends of bass & synth, and Mr Smith's mumbled vocals- coming at you from all angles. The whole thing just feels so sloppy, ill-conceived, and un-memorable- at times it moves into slightly interesting shimmering mood-ness, but theses feel more accidental then planned. The third track is the first remix/ alternative version of a track from Sub-Lingual Tablet, and this comes in the shape of "Dedication"(which was originally entitled "Dedication Not Medication"). This new version just really intensifies & stretchers the throbbing & sinister buzzing techno synth centre of the track to great brooding & dense effect, and for me this is one of the few highlights here.
The rest of the ep is filled out with the following: an instrumental version of the title track (which isn’t fully instrumental as it features vocals chants). A new version of Sub-Lingual Tablet track, which comes in the shape of "Venice With Girls"- which sounds fairly similar to the original version. Then we have another lengthy & sloppy jam track in the form of "Facebook Troll/ No Xmas For John Quay"- there are a few interesting ideas along the tracks seven & a half minute runtime, but ultimate it just all feels too lose & shapeless. And then lastly we have a reprise of the "All Leave Cancelled" track- this thankfully only last around two minutes and on the whole is fairly rewarding as it distils some of the better parts of the original track.
So in summing up, I’m afraid to say Wise Ol’ Man stands as one of the less consistent & rewarding releases to appear from The Fall in the last few years. As you really do feel like your having to pick through the bones of the album to find the good stuff….so all in all a release for compeletists of the band only!.