Re-Mit

Being billed as The Fall's 30th studio album, Re-Mit sounds remarkably lighter in touch than most of the others. Mark E. Smith may still be ranting underneath all the clutter, but a few jokes pop above the surface, and the current band members are similarly playing with a sense of fun. Even the half-finished tracks—only The Fall can turn unfinished business into manageable art—have purpose in keeping the album loose and free. So if "Pre-MDMA Years" is just Smith rattling on about something, then it's there to keep the pace between the extended beatnik stream-of-consciousness of "Hittie Man" and the perfect garage-rock approximation of "No Respects Rev"—itself a fleshed-out version of "No Respects (Intro)," the one-minute opening blast. There are flashes of Smith's vintage anger in "Loadstones," while "Sir William Wray" is mushed together into organized chaos. But Re-Mit is nearly a new, relaxed Fall. If Smith figures this out, he'll surely fire them before sundown.