Expanded edition of 1988 album features non-LP singles, rarities, BBC sessions, B-sides and more. The second disc collects the Fall’s non-LP “There’s a Ghost in My House” and “Hit the North” singles, plus their respective B-sides. Rounding out the reissue are four performances from a BBC session and the Fall’s rare cover of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” previously only available on a 1988 NME charity compilation.
After the dark morass of Bend Sinister, the sound of 1988’s Frenz Experiment comes as a bit of a shock. The arrangements are spare and broken down to the essentials, with the distorted guitars brought down low and Wolstencroft’s drums high in the mix. Marcia Schofield had also joined the band to add keyboards. With most of the songs…
…credited only to Smith himself, this could be seen as a solo album of sorts, or an indication of some rift within the group — it certainly doesn’t translate into the music. For the first time too, his vocals are loud and clear, though certainly not comprehensible; “Bremen Nacht” hints at some sort of run in with a ghost in Germany, “Athlete Cured,” with its Spinal Tap-borrowed riff, tells of a “German athletic star” made ill from unusual circumstances — the narrative turns strange, then funny until wandering off, a classic Smith tactic. Their cover of the Kinks’ “Victoria” marked the Fall’s first entry into the British charts, but also fit in with Smith’s continuing explorations of Britain’s history and how it translates into issues of class identity.
Disc One
1 “Frenz”
2 “Carry Bag Man”
3 “Get a Hotel”
4 “Victoria”
5 “Athlete Cured”
6 “In These Times”
7 “The Steak Place”
8 “Bremen Nacht (Vinyl version)”
9 “Guest Informant (Excerpt)”
10 “Oswald Defence Lawyer”
11 “Bremen Nacht Run Out”
12 “Mark’ll Sink Us (2)”
Disc Two
1 “There’s a Ghost in My House” (from There’s A Ghost In My House single)
2 “Sleep Debt Snatches” (from There’s A Ghost In My House single)
3 “Mark’ll Sink Us” (from There’s A Ghost In My House single)
4 “Haf Found Bormann” (from There’s A Ghost In My House single)
5 “Hit the North Part 1” (from the Hit The North single)
6 “Australians in Europe” (from the Hit The North single)
7 “Northerns in Europe” (from the Hit The North single)
8 “Guest Informant” (B-side from the Victoria single)
9 “Tuff Life Booogie” (B-side from the Victoria single)
10 “Twister” (B-side from the Victoria single)
11 “Bremen Nacht (Alternative)”
12 “A Day In The Life” % (from 1988 NME Charity compilation)
13 “Frenz” (Janice Long BBC session) *
14 “There’s A Ghost In My House” (Janice Long BBC session) *
15 “Get A Hotel” (Janice Long BBC session) *
16 “Haf Found Boorman” (Janice Long BBC session) *
*previously unreleased