HOUSE OF ALL
ex-Fall members Unite!
by Brian Cousins
(June 2024)
It's impossible to explain the attraction of House of All (HOA) without referring to the Fall, the band that the members of HOA were all members of at one time or another. The Fall spanned 40 plus years with only one consistent member, vocalist and wordsmith Mark E. Smith (M.E.S.) until his death in 2018. Martin Bramah who formed HOA, was also a founding member of the Fall circa '76, and was an integral member for the first album Live at the Witch Trials and subsequently rejoined the band for the Extricate' album and tour circa '89/'90. Steve Hanley was the bass player and backbone of the Fall sound and longest serving member apart from M.E.S.. His brother Paul was drummer during the seminal early 80's years. Simon Wolstenscroft, the second HOA drummer, manned the Fall drum stool during their most high-profile period for 11 years, from the mid-80's to mid-'90's. And finally and crucially, the guitarist from the final iteration and longest serving lineup of the Fall, Peter Greenway. All of which brings together members of the Fall from nearly every period of the band's existence.
Bramah formed the band with the expectation that the musicians would bring their working knowledge of how the Fall operated and wrote music together with the hope that they would be able to produce something similar and as intense. To this end, there was to be no rehearsals, no finished songs presented to the band, rather it would be a spontaneous, high pressure approach to force all the members to contribute and improvise on the spot and then hone the material in a limited time-frame. The first album's music was all written and recorded in three days with Bramah adding words and vocals later on. In fact, Greenway was meeting the three man rhythm section for the first time during those sessions. So this first session in a recording studio was a huge risk, the enterprise having been financed by Tiny Global, the label that is home to Bramah's long-term band the Blue Orchids, with the hope that they might produce something worthwhile. The fact that the band produced a complete album is remarkable from a rock perspective so it doesn't seem fanciful to suggest that these sessions were more akin to a jazz workshop with personal interaction key and musical proficiency a given. One could say that the musicians simply did their thing and it all gelled together nicely.
One of the great euphemisms regarding the Fall was that M.E.S. was "difficult" to work with but it was his raging intellect and biting insight that formed the worldview which shaped the Fall.
As the wordsmith and voice of HOA, Bramah will naturally be compared to M.E.S. They were friends as teenagers and started as equals in the band. Bramah left after only one album, but also co-wrote much of the material on the second Dragnet, to form the Blue Orchids. He taught his replacement, Craig Scanlan, his guitar parts so his departure couldn't have been too fractious. Bramah does speak-sing in a similar manner to M.E.S but that's where the similarities end. Bramah vocalizes in a detached, reflective manner and his voice is recorded cleanly for clarity.
The first song released for streaming, "Harlequin Duke," has references to a bingo master and M.E.S in what can now be called the "harlequin sweater" (Fall fans know it well) and it would seem to refer to M.E.S.'s passing, "death is a grave mistake, if you can't take it with you- don't go!" In a series of brilliant non-sequiturs, Bramah pulls together references to all manner of things both arcane and intellectual. This, over a pounding bassline and great guitar lead lines from Greenway with Bramah's guitar treated to sound more like an organ, was a huge declaration of intent. With a single track, HOA had arrived and expectations for the album were enormous. The timing seemed appropriate too, a respectful five years had passed, and the parties involved were continuing in the style and substance of the Fall but in no way imitating them.
The album, released in May '23 is a balanced and nuanced statement with Bramah's vocals meshing seamlessly with the music. The opener, "Ayenbite," is another piece of brilliance, driving bassline, double drummer attack and piercing guitar lines with Bramah's non-sequiturs again firing shards of ideas throughout the track. Ayenbite is an Old English word meaning roughly 'conscience' and throughout the album, Bramah peppers his lyrics with Latin and archaic phrases that give the album a sense of gravitas and depth. Most of the tracks seem rooted in the past, with only "Magic Sound" a brighter poppier number, that possibly refers to the band, sounding contemporary. Musically, the album probably is best categorized as post-punk but any categorization limits the originality and spontaneity displayed here. Greenway's guitar playing here is the real revelation, his riffs and lead lines battle with Bramah's vocals for dominance as they should, Steve Hanley's bass playing is distinctive as any time in the past and it's a joy to hear a double drummer attack that propels everything along.
I traveled to Manchester last May to see HOA play their first show in their home city at the White Hotel. At the Salford venue, the songs seemed more robust and dynamic than on record. In addition to the eight tracks on the album, they played two new numbers from a second album that was in the works, "Mururation" and "Aim Higher," both excellent. The real highlight however of the set was the encore, a cover of Wet Leg's "Ur Mum" combined with Can's "Uphill" - another brilliant stroke that pointed to the direction that the band might take in the future. It's fair to assume that most of the audience was devoted Fall fans and I think this show proved that this was not going to be some short-lived nostalgia event but rather the start of a great new band. I went into complete fanboy mode getting records autographed and even getting a photo with the super friendly and relaxed Simon Wolstencroft.
There was a second short UK tour in September and to coincide with it the band released a limited CD, Bay City Pistols, of live tracks, including "Ur Mum/Uphill" and three remixes of album tracks. Greenaway has been unable to tour due to health reasons and was replaced by supersub Phil Lewis of Blue Orchids who can be heard doing a great job playing lead guitar on the live tracks.
Appropriately, there have been live sessions for former Fall member Marc Riley's BBC Radio 6 show and there is a sense of matters realigning and coming full circle. M.E.S. had famously said words to the effect "that if it's me and your granny on bongos, it's the Fall," a statement that showed little or no appreciation for the musicians in the Fall. If HOA only shows how untrue this is, it will at a minimum vindicate all the musicians that played in the Fall over the years.
Interestingly, the Hanley's along with Marc Riley and Craig Scanlan - the one musician that M.E.S publicly voiced regret over firing- are now directly involved in selecting and releasing live recordings by the Fall. A live version of Slates has just been issued with royalties going to all involved including M.E.S's estate. And the recent live album from St. Helen's Technical College in '81 has their imprint all over it. These two albums and hopefully more to follow will do a lot to redress the slew of lo-fi recordings that have been issued over the years, with Fall fans best advised to listen before purchasing. In fact most of these are available on Spotify and one listen may well be enough for most people.
HOA held a second session that led to a second complete album of music being recorded with Bramah again adding vocals later on. Continuum was released in April '24 and is even better than the first outing. Musically, there is a much broader range of sound on offer here, with "Murmuration", "Under a Crooked Sky" and "Each Ending has a Beginning" being highlights. But the whole album ebbs and flows, with each track offering a counter-balance to what just preceded it or is about to come. Bramah's lyrics are more rooted in the 21th century than before and seem more personal, although they are still quite oblique and open to interpretation - that's their charm.
Many great lines stand out- "a gentleman man is never rude, except on purpose", "a gaggle of punk rock tourists with little plastic guitars" "beware the irrational, no matter how seductive" and many, many more. "Letter to a Young Poet" seems like it incorporates a found text with Bramah adding additional elements. Overall, the lyrics are more linear than on the first outing and somewhat narrative based. As on the first album, he has woven them into the fabric of the music with great care so as to mesh with the music.
They have just completed a third UK tour, these being short mini tours that see them playing to larger crowds on each outing. Hopefully, some US or European dates might be booked in the near future which would really give the band the opportunity to broaden their base.
Interestingly, they were playing a Fall cover "Lay of the Land '' as their encore on the last tour. Bramah wisely does not attempt to compete with M.E.S's vocal style and is rather subdued. As in the past when the Hanley's played in "Brix and the Extricated" and covered Fall songs, if anyone has the right to play these, it is band members who had a hand in writing them. However, HOA are in such a strong position with two great albums under their belts, it seems unnecessary. Personally, I would love to see them find other material to cover and broaden their reach.
By all indications, HOA will continue and there will hopefully be many more albums. In interviews, Bramah has said that they are open to other former members of the Fall participating, so like fantasy football, it is now possible to start imagining who might join the band in the future. But on a more realistic level, it would be a major plus if Greenway could join the band playing live soon. There's no escaping the fact that they of course will always be associated with the Fall and may be considered by some to be merely a coda after the main event. However, given their momentum there is no reason that they could not become a legitimate second act in their own right. The Hanleys and Wolstencroft have all written great memoirs based on their time served, that have already reframed the Fall as not simply being the product of one, undoubtedly hugely talented individual, but rather the product of many talents working together.
To my mind, given all the trauma and chaos that was part and parcel of the Fall and perhaps added to its brilliance, it does seem fitting that these ex-members have taken the opportunity to put their talents on display and let the music speak for itself.
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