Written 14th October 2009:
Nine Black Alps – Locked Out from the Inside
Erm, what’s up doc??
Okey-dokey, after a vote by ‘the people’, I’ve come to write Blog #6 of Flynndie Reviews and today’s blog will be a review of an album by what I would call a ‘proper’ band Nine Black Alps. Seriously, I like these guys, no flashy gimmicks, no whoring themselves to the media, just four honest Manchester lads who you can tell are passionate about what they do, and what’s that you may ask? They write fucking great Indie rock songs, which if you’re reading this blog will hopefully appeal to you too!! Ok, so let’s get on with this.
Right as always I like to give a bit of an overview of the band’s previous material, so in this case let me just say their debut ‘Everything Is’, Is Everything you would want from a debut album, cracking tunes from start to finish, I listened to it a lot when I got hold of it and listened to it again the other week, which was a major kick up the arse reminder of how good it is.
‘Love/Hate’ followed this and I personally quite liked it, but felt it was a little bit more poppy and maybe a bit more commercial than the debut, although still rocky in places but you could still tell it was an album by a band who are creating their own style. I would suggest maybe listening to or downloading a few tracks before you try and get hold of ‘Love/Hate’ and see what you think. Track #4 ‘Pet Hate’ is a definite recommendation from me though.
So, onto ‘Locked Out from the Inside’. The album opens with ‘Vampire in the Sun’, a clear indication that this album goes back to the roots of ‘Everything Is’, with its brooding guitars and bass line’s before the sing-a-along chorus crashes in, it’s a nice opening to the album. ‘Salt Water’ follows and keeps up the frenetic pace set by the opening track, with its punchy slow bit/fast bit chorus rocking along nicely.
‘Every Photograph Steals Your Soul’, and we’re still in major grungy territory here, especially with the 90’s classic sounding ‘YEAH’s’ reminding me a certain 90’s band beginning with ‘N’, that we don’t like to make comparisons too. ‘YEAH!’
‘Cold Star’ features sharp, fast guitar riffs before hitting the perfectly fitting chorus “You’re My Cold Star…….” before we can finally catch our breath for the 1st time with ‘Bay of Angels’, a more melodic tune with a really strong chorus in it, I actually quite like this tune and it fits well in place of the album.
‘Porcupine’ is another good, fun rock assault on the ears, followed by ‘Full Moon Summer’, that all I’ve got to say about is a fucking IMMENSE tune!! Seriously top, top song!! ‘Silence Kills’ is a bit of different sound to the rest of the album, if anything this sounds a bit Pink Floyd in my opinion, but fair play for trying something a bit different.
Download only single ‘Buy Nothing’ is a typical Black Alps affair, and by that I mean a kick ass rock track, ‘Along for the Ride’ follows with guitar heavy riffs, that you can perfectly nod your head to.
Then we have the final track on the album, and actually my favourite track, ‘Ghost in the City’. A completely different track to the fast paced, grungy guitar driven sound off most of the rest of the album, this is a slow, melodic track with a killer guitar hook looping through it. I guess despite being a fan of kick ass Indie rock, I’m still a sucker to this type of slowed down numbers.
So, as you will no doubt tell from the review, I’m quite enthusiastic about this new album from the Alps, and personally I think it’s a good return to form from the lads. I’m gonna award this album 8 Ghosts in the City out of 10, and a very strong 8 at that so recommended stuff, but also make sure you pick up their debut album as well, because it should be in every Indie rock fans music collection!!!
Ghost in the City ‘Flynny’
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