The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour (2xLP, Transparent green)

Hex Enduction Hour is the fourth studio album by The Fall, released in March 1982 on Kamera Records. Recorded partly in Iceland and partly in Hertfordshire, it is often considered one of the band’s definitive statements. The album captures The Fall at their most uncompromising: abrasive guitars, repetitive grooves, raw production and Mark E. Smith’s acerbic, surreal wordplay pushed to the front. Songs like The Classical, Jawbone and the Air-Rifle and Hip Priest embody the band’s jagged, hypnotic style, turning chaos into something strangely precise.

The record has since become a cult classic, frequently cited as one of the essential post-punk albums. Its sound is stark and unpolished yet brimming with urgency, reflecting the band’s ethos of rejecting polish in favour of force, wit and experimentation. For many fans and critics, Hex Enduction Hour represents The Fall at the height of their creative powers, a document of both menace and innovation that has aged with undiminished intensity.

Reviews

“Hex Enduction Hour is one of The Fall’s best albums, and as close as they ever got to a consensus classic.” — AllMusic

“It’s still a head-wrecking, thrilling listen.” — The Guardian

“A monstrous, sprawling record … Hex Enduction Hour confirmed The Fall as the most idiosyncratic and uncompromising band of their generation.” — NME

“Brutally raw and confrontational, yet endlessly inventive.” — Record Collector