Globo - This Nation's Saving Grace

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 26 / 11 / 2008

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Review

When The Fall released 'This Nation's Saving Grace' in 1985, I had stopped bothering any longer with them. 'Hex Enduction Hour' and 'Slates!' both count as my favourites. After that I gave up hope. Their move to Beggars Banquet had a part to play in that and there simply was much more challenging music around , most notably from the Minutemen, the Scene Is Now and Negativland. The Fall had become the Tory party to me. Yet it is good fun to hear young kids of today cover this entire Fall LP. Digital funksters Globo invited several infamous Norwich area or Norwich-linked indie popstars to sing along to some of the lyrics that Mark E. Smith wrote then. And yes, I did waste another 40 minutes or so by listening to the original LP again. Indeed I played Globo on the radio at the time they first were around, and this cover CD I much prefer to the original Fall LP. The sound definitely remains characteristically 1980's, comfortably under the covers. Members from Fiel Garvie, for example, add a synthy, silky and sulking touch to 'Barmy' which now could pass for a Pet Shop Boys outtake. Very honourable mention ought to go to Mia Vigar for 'Spoilt Victorian Child' which for extra excitement, seems to borrow the "hello hello" lines from Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. 'L.A.' once again is a great improvement over the original which back then was typical of silly English discopop. In the meantime, Globo do a great job in recovering the core meanings from the originals and turning these into pulsating tracks. In a sense, Globo master the craft that members of the Cuban Boys were best known for. Globo's cover of 'My New House' renders a jolly jazzpop tune that could even please the Eton crop punters. Globo's cover album is a poor man's posh sophistication project. Building great dance pop tunes from a recognized wreck is quite something. The recommended wine going with 'This Nation's Saving Grace' is white and sparkling, always within the reach of your budget of course.

Track Listing:-

1 Mansion
2 Bombast
3 Barmy
4 What You Need
5 Spoilt Victorian Child
6 L.A.
7 Gut of the Quantifier
8 My New House
9 Paintwork
10 I Am Damo Suzuki
11 To Nkroachment:Yarbles