Nine Black Alps Review - The Loft Atlanta Georgia

Nine Black Alps
The Loft
March 25th, 2006
by Kenny Crucial

Nine Black Alps literally emerged from the cellars of Manchester, England to take the world stage.

Their debut album Everything Is is already platinum in the UK, and they treated Atlanta to a tight compact set of assaulting rock n’ roll.

This was interspersed with the ironic commentary of frontman Sam Forrest. He even turned f tuning break into a chance for the band to pretend to jam. Such hits as "Unsatisfied" and "Cosmopolitan" showed the very melodic sense of the quartet.

It was a small crowd, but everyone was captivated by the engaging show. Some critics have complained that the band lifts many of its licks from Nirvana - even Sam’s hair has that same nonchalance as Cobain - but there are a lot worse bands that you can draw from. A close listening reveals an equal dose of the Kinks .

I liked the crazed bass playing of Martin Cohen. In a cap and beard, he almost looked like a wild southern rocker. The band even showed off their fresh tattoos. During the show Sam announced that the band intended to head for the zoo the next day. After a rousing ending, they skipped an encore so that they could sample the real Atlanta wildlife at the dance club MJQ.

Two Atlanta bands, Snowden and League of Evil opened. Both showed dynamics like the Alps, but they avoided the hook-laiden grunge in favor of a more atmospheric, shoe-gazer style. League of Evil was led by former Sharks and Minnow frontman Christopher Simony and featured Spectralux ’s Jeff Cobb’s luscious textures on guitar. Local faves Snowden , just back from their triumph at SXSW, won over some new converts with their driving sound.