Dragnet (1979)

Dragnet, The Fall's second album, shows a gradual step towards the experimental sound they are best known for, and establishes their trademark prolificacy and member shifting. The album was released the same year as Live At The Witch Trials, but yet only two members remain from the original Fall (Mark E. Smith and Marc Riley). This makes Dragnet the first Fall album to feature Craig Scanlon, whose guitar playing would remain an important part of The Fall's sound for years, and Steve Hanley, whose bass was an integral part of The Fall for the 19 years he spent in the band, a length of time second to only Smith himself. But enough about the lineup, it's time to talk about the music. It is Lo-Fi by intent, something I assume would have shocked me in 1979, but having heard Pavement, Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, and (the audiophile's arch-nemesis) Iggy Pop's remaster of Raw Power, it's hard for lo-fi noise and buzzing to excited me as much as it used to, although I will admit it is used well. The songs begin moving towards what The Fall would become known for, such as tom beats and constant guitar lines under Smith's vocals in "A Figure Walks" and "Muzorewi's Daughter", and the odd song structures, sometimes ignoring Verse-Chorus-Verse entirely and instead just sort of continuing to move ahead with few clear dividers. Overall, the songs are strong and it is interesting to see the band move forward.

Unfortunately, the bonus tracks on Dragnet do not hold up to the quality of those on Live at the Witch Trials. Beginning with a few singles tracks, the bulk of the second disk consists of four outtakes of "Rowche Rumble" and two of track "In My Area". So while the original album is worth listening to, the bonus tracks are purely for Fall obsessives only.

Dragnet - B

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