In one of the documentaries around about New Order, a rock critic commented on the band’s brilliant decision to add a female element into their midst after the suicide of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. I feel like that same feeling carries over to fellow Mancunians the Fall. That feminine perspective came out a bit when Brix joined, but you can feel the larger holes being poked in the masculine façade of the group with the introduction of keyboardist Marcia Schofield. This might be a result of it coming after the comparatively down Bend Sinister, but the songs on The Frenz Experiment have a decidedly lighter touch to them. “Athlete Cured” bounces on a riff lifted from Spinal Tap and little sputtering keyboard exclamations, the spiraling “Get A Hotel” comes out surprisingly Doors-like with its little spikes of Hammond organ and Wolstencroft’s drum rumbles, and they even dared to take a swing at the Kinks’ “Victoria” (earning them their highest chart performance to that point). Hell, even MES’s Nazi ghost story (“Bremen Nacht”) and JFK assassination theorizing (“Oswald Defence Lawyer”) are leavened by swinging music, cut through with honking synth work by Schofield and producer/bandmate Simon Rogers. Letting some air in the room did them some good, but the extra oxygen has made them a little dizzy.