Music > Live Reviews

THE FALL & RAVENOUS HOUNDS

The Adrian Flux Waterfront

27/04/24

I was introduced to The Fall with a copy of a copy of a copy of I Am Kurious Oranj, which is considered to be a bit of a challenge, even by Fall obsessives (and there’s plenty of them around). I’ve never really got over that and, however much I like the other stuff that I have heard by The Fall, I have never owned any albums. So why am I in the Waterfront Studio for a band consisting of four refugees from The Fall and a member of the final line up? Curiosity and because I never got to see The Fall and because I’ve liked what I’ve heard of House of All and because I bloody love the openers, RAVENOUS HOUNDS. 

I haven’t seen Ravenous Hounds anywhere near as as often as I feel I should have done. Pretty much everything about them is right up my streets, they combine Stooges-style garage rock with Cravats-meets-Membranes skronk and Crampsy rockabilly to create a dark, menacing but delicious sound that I can only describe as postpunkabillypsychmotorikrocknroll. Now I know that tag will never catch on and I suspect that the band themselves may not entirely agree with my interpretation of what they do but what the hell. Ravenous Hounds win over a fair proportion of the crowd with Lover-Fighter and Love Is All Around (no, not the Wet Wet Wet Song) being highlights of what was a pretty special set. Go see ’em, you won’t be disappointed. 

And so to HOUSE OF ALL. As I’ve already said, this is four musicians that escaped The Fall, plus one member of the final line-up. Given that The Fall had over 40 members - apart from the mercurial Mark E Smith - over the years and how many new(ish) bands are using the template established by MES and the various line ups, it is perhaps surprising that there are not more “ex-Fall” bands. Whatever, given House of All includes members from the very earliest days to Smith’s demise including the longest serving member apart from MES himself, this lot have every right to consider themselves the Fall continuum. 

With Martin Bramah on guitar and lead vox, Stephen Hanley on bass, Pete Greenway on guitar and drummers Paul Hanley and Simon Wolstencroft, it would be wrong to expect them not to sound like The Fall. Indeed, the likes of Ayenbite, Gaudy Pop Scramble and Turning of the Years could be (very high quality) outtakes. But there’s more to this band than just “that” connection: Murmuration is close to shoegaze and post-rock, Under A Crooked Sky approaches desert rock, I Might Get Clean is strangely reminiscent of Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel and Magic Sound has more than a little 70s glam about it. Main set closer Each Ending Has A Beginning brings to mind Arab Strap fronted by Yard Act’s James Smith. The highlights for me are the double hit of Aim Higher and There’s More towards the end of set and the encore of Lay of the Land by The Fall (who else?). 

House of All delivered a very good set of more than decent songs. I’d have liked a bit more of a show but get that that is not what they’re about. For the most part, the audience seemed (relatively) quietly appreciative rather than bowled over but there were a couple of blokes who made up for that with their enthusiasm. Given the pedigree of those on stage and the quality of the songs, I do have to wonder why House of All were playing in the Studio when a bloody tribute act was headlining downstairs. Ah, such is life.