The move to Beggars Banquet, one of the largest indie labels in the U.K., and the introduction of producer John Leckie into the mix sure didn’t move the Fall towards more commercial intentions. If anything, they dared to turn in some of their most challenging work in ages.

It had to look especially like that considering the friendly, poppy tone of the singles they recorded and released around the same time (“C.R.E.E.P.” and “Oh! Brother”). No punches get pulled here. MES thumbs his nose at the wave of pop and rock acts emerging from Scotland (“Elves”), throws his awful downstairs neighbors under the double-decker (“Craigness”), and depicts an awful day at the happiest place on Earth (“Disney’s Dream Debased”). Were it not for the rockabilly-infused, feedback-laden clatter and windy dub experimentation going on throughout, this could be a straight-up punk record.

It’s easy to see now the growing influence that Brix was having on the tone of the Fall’s work here. The songs co-written by her and MES — “Elves,” “2 x 4,” “Disney,” and the rabid opener, “Lay of the Land” — burn hottest on this LP, and she had a hand in getting Gavin Friday, leader of the Virgin Prunes, to memorably lend his quavering voice to two tracks here. If there is still anyone out there scoffing at her inclusion in the Fall fold, let this album be a firm rebuke to that line of thinking.