There isn’t much from the Fall pre-1987 that isn’t essential, but few, if any, of those releases are as immediately likable as this one. “Lay of the Land”’s mutant surf-rock psychobilly with industrial twinges launches the theretofore most accessible Fall LP, which takes a lot of cues from recently initiated guitarist and Mark E.’s not-so-long-suffering wife Brix’s psych-tinged pop sensibilities, emphasizes the brilliant hookiness of Steve Hanley’s bass playing, and offers up nine solid tunes among which are such class-acts as the “I Wanna Be Your Dog”-riff-copping “Elves,” the oddly poignant “Stephen Song,” and the magnificently loopy dream-pop of “Disney’s Dream Debased.”
The curious could hardly do better than begin with the Wonderful and Frightening World of… before diving headlong into the wonderful and frightening world of the Fall. —Will
