Nine Black Alps – Candy For The Clowns
- Written by Emma Lawrence
Nine Black Alps are back this month with a new album, Candy For The Clowns, which is the follow up to 2012’s Sirens. Admittedly, I was a fan of the band when they first popped up on the scene in 2005 when I was a spritely teenager, but I kind of lost track of them so it was nice to see this in my inbox for review.
Single ‘Supermarket Clothes’ is a totally different sound than what Nine Black Alps fans will be used to. It's upbeat, fast paced, and extremely summery sounding, which couldn’t be furtheraway from their grunge roots if it tried. You can however see what they are trying to do, and they do it very well. Track from their new album will be heard at many festivals this year, and, snakebite in hand, you’ll be dancing along.
The first track on the album, ‘Novokaine’, takes the Manchester quartet back to what they do best, heir brand of ‘Northern Grunge’. It’s a worthy opening track with lots of feed back and big pounding drums they do so well, a good starter and taste of what’s to come from Candy for the Clowns.
‘Blackout’ is up next, and Sam Forrest has taken some influence from Nirvana on this one. With vocals that are uncannily similar to that of Kurt Cobain’s, the band sticks to their grunge roots, and this is something that they really know how to do. Tracks ‘Petti’ and ‘Come Back Around’ both sound like they wouldn’t be out of place on Nevermind, and you can tell this is where they seem to sound their best.
‘Morning After’ is in the same vein as ‘Supermarket Clothes’ and sounds good, if a little bit out of the groups comfort zone. These two tracks are ones that will attract more indie fans, as its not as heavy as other tracks on the album. Finally, another stand out track was ‘Something Else’; with a catchy bass line, feedback and drum beat that get stuck in your head.
Overall, Candy For The Clowns is a good album, and it flits between grunge and indie without trying too hard. It is nice to have the Nine Black Alps boys back!
Candy For The Clowns is available from amazon (here) and ITunes (here).