BRiX ANd THe eXTRiCATed

Breaking state 8/10

Marquess Cha-Cha: Brix’s legends of the Fall return

“You’re the aftertaste of rotten meat,” squawks Brix Smith Start on “Sleazebag”, suggesting that she may have picked up a caustic trick or two from her late first husband during her time in The Fall. The second album by the band Mark E Smith would have “gladly fucking exterminated” builds on the goodwill generated by their sparkly 2017 debut Part 2, Smith Start coming good with a mournful meditation on her homeland, “American Skies”, a punky trip to Rishikesh on “Vanity”, and an ambiguous “posthumous love song” to MES, “Heavy Crown”. Juddering Jesuit boys rhythms further enhance another worthy friends’ experiment.