Saturday 24th October 2009 @ The Cooler, Bristol

Nine Black Alps…Nine Inch Alps…Black Eyed Alps…No matter how much of a concerted effort I make to remember the name, within seconds it’s slipped out of my mind which, sadly, is what happens with most of the songs at tonight’s gig.

The band have had a turbulent couple of years; hailed as the next big Manchester band and signed up by a major label only to be dropped after their second album, so hats off to them for soldiering on. However, you’d hope that being freed up from a major label would inspire them to follow their own path but as with much of their new album, Locked Out From The Inside, tonight’s set plays it safe and covers way too many bases.

There’s no denying the band are tight live and plough through their set energetically with very little onstage banter, songs often flowing straight into one another. All the elements seem to be in place but the band seem too tied to their influences to really let go and be themselves, so rather than losing myself in the gig, I stand there thinking; “this sounds a bit like Nirvana or Pixies or Foo Fighters or Biffy Clyro.” There were a couple of nice moments such as Vampire In The Sun which is a nice blast of Nirvana-esque pop punk (not a million miles from The Vines’ Get Free) and also Bitter End which has a poppy west coast influence but just didn’t fit in with the rest of the set.

There were some hardcore fans in the audience who sung along and even air guitared at points but if the band want to progress and perhaps reach a larger audience, they really need to find their own voice.

www.nineblackalps.com

Simon Harvey-Williams
Photos by George Salt