Nine Black Alps

Item: Nine Black Alps
Author: Mark Fisher

(2005)

Reviewed by Mark Fisher

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Label Tiny Island / Universal MusicDecapolisSeptember 2005

alternative rock garage rock

British rockers Nine Black Alps make their U.S. debut with this over soon EP. At first the EP did nothing for me but as it repeats it starts to grow on you. It's tempting to dismiss this as a Jet/Strokes/White Stripes wave rider (which is what I almost immediately did) but the more you listen the more intricate you realize it is. "Attraction" is the best example of this. It's a beautiful acoustic song that has a mid-tempo flow and a lot of lyrically intimacy. It's almost like Dashboard Confessional inviting members of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer to jam with them.

There are a lot of dimensions to these songs and that could be the key to the bands longevity as they'll probably be able to adapt to music industry shifts. For now though you get some raw and "melodic at just the right moment" rock and roll that should appeal to the indie rock crowd as well as fans of more rock oriented punk and straight up British rock, particularly Blur and early Oasis.

2/4