My Top 1000 Songs #532: Cruiser's Creek

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

My buddy Chris had a lot to do with my musical education when I arrived at college in '84, introducing me to the college radio station (WPRB) and countless bands (most notably R.E.M.). It took me a little longer to develop a taste for his favorite band, The Fall, who were a little more acerbic than my taste at the time. But the 1985 single "Cruiser's Creek" finally did the trick, attaching Mark E. Smith's bitter meanderings to a savage, downright catchy riff, Smith's then-wife Brix giving the band just enough of a pop sheen to lure me in. (And who would've guessed Brix would have one of the greatest songs of 2023?!) The dual-drum rumble was a big part of the appeal as well, the song an absolute monster barreling out of the speakers at top volume. The song helped get me into the contemporaneous LP This Nation's Saving Grace (it was appended to later CD reissues) and to finally appreciate the work that had preceded it. 

Live: