This Nation's Saving Grace

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  1985

  James

  This is one of the rare Fall records where repetition becomes genuinely addictive instead of merely confrontational. The band locks into grooves that feel almost mechanical, but tiny shifts in phrasing or rhythm keep destabilizing them from within. “Cruiser’s Creek” and “Spoilt Victorian Child” sound both tightly controlled and on the verge of falling apart, which is exactly where Mark E. Smith wants them. His vocals don’t guide the songs so much as stalk through them, muttering observations that seem half brilliant and half deliberately irritating.