While 1997 has not been the best of years for Manchester's finest, what with serious doubts about Mark E. Smith's health (recent pictures of Smith are more than a little frightening), a slew of genuinely unnecessary compilations on the Receiver label and unforgivably sub-par reissues of Live at the Witch Trials and In a Hole (two cornerstones of The Fall's discography, mastered right off of crackly and skippy vinyl), their umpteenth studio effort shows that The Fall are fit and working again. 1996's Light User Syndrome was perhaps the best Fall yet this decade, and by this time next month, I might consider Levitate an even stronger release.

Mark has said that rock and roll is all about mistreating instruments to get feelings across, and that has held true throughout their twenty year history -- even when electronics come to the fore of Fall music, it's been done with unbelievably cheap and primitive equipment. When the band attempts something which might be considered halfway "dance" or, uh, "electronica," (on this record, "10 Houses of Eve" and the quite warped "4 1/2 Inch"), you won't be mistaking it for Aphex Twin. As per usual, there's a healthy level of experimentation ("Ol' Gang," "Hurricane Edward"), and newish members Julia Nagel on keyboards and guitarist Tommy Crooks are doing surprisingly well -- last year's Phoenix Festival set is the greatest, most ferocious live Fall I've heard since the early '80s.

What seems to stand out most about Levitate are the two moody tracks "Jap Kid" and "I Come and Stand at Your Door." The former is a downbeat Swell Maps-ish, piano-led instrumental, while the latter covers a forgotten '60s protest song; both have the effect of making a Fall diehard such as myself think that perhaps Mark is taking a long look at himself and pondering just how many years he's got left. On FallNet (the e-mail list for Fall fanatics), there have been reports of tears shed over "I Come and Stand...," which I can almost believe.

Initial pressings of Levitate include a second disk, particularly notable for the first official release of the fine early '80s track "Pilsner Trail," previously only available on the bootleg Backdrop rarities CD, so shop around - supplies may be dwindling. Grab it like a rabbit, as they say...

-Bruce Tiffee