Everything Is

The Alps know, however, that what separated Nirvana from their more prosaic kin was a skill for infectious melody. "Get Your Guns", then, successfully twins gnarled guitar roar with pouting frontman Sam Forrest’s nagging, melodically astute vocals, creating a neat tension between tunefulness and noise that extends through to more subtle moments like "Unsatisfied". Elsewhere, a vague 60s influence sometimes raises its shaggy head, as on the title track, where Forrest sneers "Everybody is a liar/ Everybody has a price" before careening into a verse that sounds like The Kinks’ "You Really Got Me" soaked in beer and kicked around a venue floor. Heavy music with a pop sensibility: it’s not rocket science, but in Nine Black Alps’ hands, such simple formulas become impressive alchemy --Louis Pattison