Coming out of England, Nine Black Alps has a distinctly American sound; informed mostly by Nirvana and the grunge revolution of the early-to-mid ’90s, though hints of the post-post-grunge wave (i.e. The Vines) creep into the music more often then they should. “Everything Is,” the band’s debut album, has already proven to be a success in their native land and has begun to make a splash stateside. Unfortunately, for the most part, Nine Black Alps simply provide the generic, cookie-cutter, quote-unquote alternative rock that followed in Nirvana’s wake.
With slick, polished sounds and safe, predictable songwriting, Nine Black Alps seem determined to keep on driving stakes into the once mighty genre. What once stood for individuality and operating outside the corporate-rock playground has long become the standard for bland modern rock. Nine Black Alps is nowhere near the treacherous, watered-down to the point of drowning, terrain of Nickleback, Creed, and their counterparts, but they do walk the fine line that has sunk countless grunge imitators. Singer/guitarist Sam Forrester’s made-for-radio vocals propel the opening songs, “Get Your Guns” and “Cosmopolitan,” the latter a predictable if well-intentioned attack on the titular magazine, and establish exactly what Nine Black Alps set out to do.
Later songs like “Unsatisfied” and “Shot Down” simply continue to drive the point home; “Everything Is” lacks any semblance of diversity – save for the requisite acoustic numbers – and every thing from the lyrics to the chord progressions to the guitar progressions all sound as if they were concocted from the same formula in the post-grunge laboratory.
Self-loathing and angst are well accounted for and Forrester makes sure to incorporate plenty of the gun violence imagery that has worked so well for other bands without checking twice to see if he actually has a clever lyric on his hands; to cut to the chase, 99% of the time he doesn’t. “Just Friends” pushes the limits of acceptable songwriting in the wrong direction.
For all its faults, “Everything Is” does have a few bright spots. “Not Everyone” seems more influenced by The Pixies and Sonic Youth and, while it just feels like a witless rip-off of those groups, it is a bit refreshing to see that Nine Black Alps’ CD collection at least stretches beyond just the most obvious artists of the alternative generation. “Ironside” is flat-out catchy, a high-energy track that could propel an album full of more thoughtful, less bland modern rock; sadly it just stands as the sole bright spot on an otherwise dull album.
Nine Black Alps is not the worst thing to happen to modern rock music; in fact they are far from it. However “Everything Is” simply brings nothing to the table that hasn’t been done thousands of times before by far better bands. It’s almost enough to make one long for the days of Candlebox.
