Popsheep

Perhaps I'm a decade and a half too late to be entering into the great Fall vs. Pavement debate - if such a thing ever actually existed - but I figure that one more volley into the critical abyss can't do any real harm. There are some good grounds for seeing Pavement (at least in their pre-Wowee Zowee period) as ripping off the Fall: their cover art is suspiciously similar to that of the early Fall albums, both bands share a similar kind of sloppy haphazardness, and early Pavement albums have a quite a bit of the speaking/singing/shouting dynamic that Mark E. Smith is so well known for. While all this is true, I'm of the opinion that it's truly impossible to rip-off the Fall without merely lapsing into a parody of Smith's ranting poetry or signature vocal ticks ("ehks-mus-uhhhh" as "x-mas", for instance). The same is also true of Pavement. Most bands that try to rip them off end up sounding like a bad Malkmus parody and are pretty hard to take seriously.

Which brings me to these two versions of the Fall song "The Classical". Both versions are truly awesome in their own right, but the Pavement version can't help but be a lot more poppy and melodic, ultimately sounding more like a Pavement song than it does like the Fall original (barring a few moments of failed Mark E. Smith vocal impersonation). The Fall version is so fantastic that Pavement must have realized that you can't just do a straight cover and manage to do any justice to the original. I mean, singing the "Hey there fuckface(uh), hey there fuckface(uh)!" part without laughing might actually be impossible.

The Fall - The Classical

Pavement - The Classical

The Fall album that this song is from, Hex Enduction Hour, is a must own and I think has recently been re-released in North America. The Pavement song is from the Major Leagues EP which, if you can still find it at your local music store, is one of their best. And that's saying a lot given that their EPs tracks are often better than the album cuts.