in a heavy Mancunian accent, are often cryptic, absurdist and inscrutable, and were described by critic Simon Reynolds as "a kind of Northern English magic realism that mixed industrial grime with the unearthly and uncanny, voiced through a unique, one-note delivery somewhere between amphetamine-spiked rant and alcohol-addled yarn." Smith described his approach as wanting to combine "primitive music with intelligent lyrics". Thematically, his frequently densely layered lyrics often centre around descriptions of urban grotesques, gloomy landscapes, "crackpot history", and are infused with regional slang. Fragments of Smith's lyrics often appeared handwritten on early Fall album and single covers, along with collages he had put together. In a 1983 interview with Sounds, Smith said that he liked artwork to reflect the album content and that his graphic choices reflected his attitude to music. He mentioned how he was drawn to cheap and misspelled posters, amateur layouts of local papers and printed cash and carry signs with "inverted commas where you don't need them". Influence On the group’s influence, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that “the Fall, like many cult bands, inspired a new generation of underground bands, ranging from waves of sound-alike indie rockers in the UK to acts in America and New Zealand, which is only one indication of the size and dedication of their small, devoted fan base.” The Fall have influenced groups and artists such as Pavement, Yung Lean, Happy Mondays, Sonic Youth, These New Puritans, LCD Soundsystem, as well as the Russian group Grazhdanskaya Oborona. Sonic Youth covered three Fall songs (and “Victoria” by the Kinks, also covered by the Fall) in a 1988 Peel session, which was released in 1990 as an EP, “4 Tunna Brix”, on Sonic Youth’s own Goofin’ label. The Pixies covered “Big New Prinz” during their 2013 world tour. The 1990s indie acts Pavement (who recorded a version of “The Classical”) and Elastica (Smith contributed vocals to their final EP and album) showed an influence of the Fall, while Suede parodied the band with “Implement Yeah!”, a song found on the cassette edition of their 1999 single, “Electricity.” In 2001, when Texan post-hardcore band At The Drive-In played live at Australia’s music festival BDO the band’s singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala said this before they played their song “Pattern Against User”: “This is dedicated to a band from the U.K. called THE FALL. If you don’t know who THE FALL is, you’re listening