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Everything Is
Nine Black Alps
Reviewed by: Josh Barr [Thu, May 11, 2006 @ 10:35:13 PM]
Empty liquor bottles and still burning cigarettes sat in kitchen sinks. Cigars floating in cheap beer-filled ashtrays and barf-ridden toilets. Rockers passed out with needle in arms and half naked dead hookers strewn about flats in various poses. Nine Black Alps’ sound reeks of all these beautifully unruly things. But at the same time, these elements coalesce into the stinging perfume that is rock ‘n’ roll and provide for one unwaveringly solid debut in Everything Is.
If their music is an indicator, the blokes in Nine Black Alps have happily been part of scenarios like the aforementioned, either after a great show, a bad show, or no show at all.
These Manchesterians rock with the same gusto as the ‘Stones, but without Mick’s self-aggrandizing swagger. Rather, it’s an I’m-a-piece-of-shit-just-like-everybody-else, worriless trot. Although they sound nothing alike, the ‘Alps possess that sort of pessimist-turned-optimist sound Pinback flaunts in that their music sounds for the most part upbeat while their subject matter couldn’t be bleaker.
The ‘Alps sound more like the punk of The Libertines mixed with alt-grunge licks, beats, and rhythms. With average track lengths hovering around the 2:50 mark, the foursome offer up concise rock nuggets, fully of big raunchy guitar grunge, seedily buzzy bass lines, and phlegmy, accented vocals. Singer/guitarist Sam Forrest may not have the most far-reaching of vocal ranges, or come up with the timeless lyrics, but he doesn’t have to on Everything Is. His range and lyrics fit the quick cuts’ swift buildups and breakdowns.
Simple, but memorably delivered lines like those of “Unsatisfied” (“Ten out of ten / for a race alreaddie [sic. British accent added] won”), “Behind Your Eyes” (“Don’t you want to be / part of the machine / burning bright to be / the sparks ignite the light / behind your eyes”), “Everybody Is” (“Everybody is a liar / everybody has a price”), and “Ironside” (“Wouldn’t it be sweet / to let a good thing die / make my life complete / make me wonder why”) stick with the listener.
Many tracks feature avalanches of guitar noise courtesy of the ‘Alps multi-guitar attack. “Not Everyone” starts out with thumping drum work before a wave of guitar sludge rushes in. Same goes for “Ironside” and “Southern Cross.” Nine Black Alps also mix things up -as to not present a disc strictly full of rockers- in the acoustic tracks “Behind Your Eyes” and “Intermission”; two tracks that greatly highlight that Manchesterian pipes.
The best tracks on the offering may just be those that incorporate vocal layering the aforementioned “Everybody Is” and the caboose track beaut’ “Southern Cross”. But then again, one mustn’t forget the raspy goodness of the rhythmic rocker “Cosmopolitan” (“You spend the night / I’ll take my life / we’ll close our eyes / we’ll be dead by sunrise”), where Forrest takes the vocal reigns himself.
Regardless of whether you’ve ever shot up or even been within five miles of a dead hooker, Everything Is is worth a spin. It’s delightfully dirty, intriguingly irreverent, and won’t get you in anywhere near as much trouble as drugs or lifeless prostitutes.
Rating: 9/10
RIYL: no frills alt-grunge punk rock with a tendency for the rowdy and raucous.
Perfect Soundtrack for: drunken hotel debauchery; sunny day road trips with the top down; crazy dancing atop table, desk, and bar.
nineblackalps.com
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