Nine Black Alps, Musician, Leicester

Posted 2nd Jun 2009 in Live Reviews, Nine Black Alps by Shefali Srivastava | Musician | 4-5

These guys don't mess around. After making the most low-key of entrances, with three of the band members nonchalantly emerging from the crowd, Nine Black Alps strap on their axes and launch into a blistering and belligerent 'Buy Nothing'. Typified by relentless guitars akin to buzzing chainsaws, it sets the tone for the next hour, exhorting us to "abandon advertising selling out your soul / buy nothing, buy nothing, buy nothing" in a sneering, dirty drawl, an anthem to anti-capitalism. Fast, furious, and merciless to your eardrums, Sam Forrest and co. remind everyone in the room why they're head and shoulders above the commercial indie pap that's shaping the alternative scene at the moment, and just how much we've missed - and needed - them.

For a band that have a habitually sullen and smouldering presence on stage, they seem like they're actually enjoying themselves for once. Of few words, the handful of in-between song comments are tentatively positive and they just seem like they're having, well, fun. Bassist Martin Cohen rocks out in the corner, back half-turned to the crowd for most of the gig, while frontman Forrest is the epitome of effortless grunge cool, playing with a highly proficient skill that has the deceptive appearance of total apathy, with just a touch of Mancunian swagger, screaming, scowling, snarling, and howling his way through a sixteen-song setlist with his trademark gritty, melodic vocals. New songs are the order of the day and form half the setlist, with the other half being farmed from 'Everything Is' - second album 'Love/Hate' being virtually ignored. Perhaps it reminds the band of the difficult time they had in the wake of its release, being unceremoniously dropped by label Island, or maybe they just don't rate the songs as highly as their older or newer ones. Whatever the reason, they nevertheless do justice to a sweet rendition of the mid-tempo 'Burn Faster', the most mainstream of their singles. "Mainstream" is not a term that can be applied to their new material though, not by a long shot. Seems like Nine Black Alps have fully channelled their inner rage and the results are exciting, being more raw, primal, and ragged around the edges than anything we've heard from them before. From the relatively sunny 'Along For The Ride' to the brilliant and brutal 'Every Photograph' every new track showcased - despite the unfamiliarity of them - is nothing short of excellent. There isn't a dud among them.

The old favourites are brought out to play too of course, and predictably elicit the most reaction, whether it's the angsty and evocative 'Unsatisfied' or the menacing, Nirvana-like strains of 'Not Everyone'. But the crowd are more appreciative than demonstrative, and Cohen has to urge them to come closer to the stage at one point, from which they've been keeping a mildly hesitant distance. They do explode into animation for the big three of the night, which also happen to be the last three, meaning that the night happily ends with a bang and not a whimper. Perennial crowd-pleaser and mosh pit favourite 'Cosmopolitan' gets pulses throbbing, followed by a staggeringly sleazy 'Ironside' (a personal favourite), and the gig is rounded off by the urgent momentum of the ever-faithful set-closer, 'Shot Down'. If there's any disappointment, it's that 'Just Friends' isn't pulled out of the back catalogue. With its atmosphere of reckless youth and scent of summer, it would've been the perfect addition to this balmy evening.

But it's unfair to criticise on such a minor oversight, when they've not only outclassed most other bands around, but on this occasion, themselves too. Nine Black Alps seem happier in what they're doing, and it shows in the hunger, power, and sheer precision that's been on display tonight. Hopefully this means they're back with a vengeance, and if so, they are very welcome back indeed.

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