FALLS – Cream: Exclusive Stream

Self-proclaimed doyens of ‘gash-pop’ stream their new EP and provide a track-by-track delineation, exclusively for The Independent

FALLS, from left to right Steff Jones

If one cranes their ear towards the county of Flintshire, oft referred to as ‘the gateway to Wales’, nestled in the north of the country between Liverpool and Snowdonia, one might hear an exhilarating blend of Prince’s sexy-mofo hip-shaking grooves mixed with the spindly syncopated genre-bending guitar riffs of System of a Down. If one were to follow the sound to its source, one would likely encounter the four perma-semi-naked delinquents that make up sasscore, f**k rock band FALLS.

Following a series of EPs and single releases, Cream is their most accomplished, idiosyncratic, infectious collection of songs to date. Recorded at the Grand Studio, in the small town of Clitheroe with Alpha Male Tea Party guitarist Tom Peters, the 4-track record will be available digitally via the band’s own record label, Naughty Strawberry, and in the form of a comic book called Liberator which was designed by artist Joan Edam and will be accompanied with an EP download code.

Guitarist Philip Kelsall said of the EP, ‘We have taken the opportunity to explore both the darker and more playful extremes of FALLS' collective psyche. This EP showcases precisely who we are as people, and in doing so justifies the concerns of our friends and families. The writing process made our bassist sick, the recording process made our engineer sick, now all that's left is to make the world sick.’

Bassist Ben Griffiths provided us with an exclusive track by track account of Cream:

Berries!

Seldom do our lyrics contain narrative, or anything close to resembling it. This one is no exception. As with the rest of this record, it's a mixture of about thirteen different songs mashed into one. If that isn't your thing, then you're in for a grim listen, let me assure you. There's some parts that sound like Coheed & Cambria and some that sound like The Sweet, and that's absolutely fine by us.

Daytime N U

Backtracking somewhat on a point I made earlier, Daytime N U is just one song. A pop song. It starts off a bit B-52's and ends up somewhere closer to Disturbed. We wanted to write a bona-fide pop song, because we absolutely adore pop music. As always with us, what starts as an idea in our collectively idiotic skulls tends to deviate somewhat and ends up so far away from the initial motif that we may as well have moved to the South of France.

Live Delicious

Deviating slightly from our 'norm' here, we have (somewhat of) a considered and structured lyrical narrative. This is, essentially, a rant about boring bands, set to a musical backdrop. A piece of musical theatre, if you will. A bit like Phantom of the Opera, with no Phantom and no opera.

The Liberator

This is far and above the most ambitious song we've ever done and I'm incredibly proud of it. The title comes from a hand-me-down sex toy given to Phil (guitars) - which we then turned into a superhero, of sorts - THE LIBERATOR. He promotes tolerance and equality, quashing those who oppose this. So this song is about being YOURSELF and F**K anyone who doesn't like you. We like you. We'd like you more if you bought this record, but hey, baby steps, yeah?

Cream is released digitally and as a part of the Liberator comic book on Friday 2^nd December.