Blow Up Records Artists: Alfa 9: Reviews

alfa 9 press

the organ
BLOW UP CLUB @ METRO, OXFORD ST, LONDON
"How do we get some attention, we're a new band, how do we get you to come to a gig?", it's so so so easy, you don't need to call us and beg, just get out there! If you're good and you're out there then the word naturally spreads and all kinds of good people (and lowlife wreckord company pimps, secret service agents and wired pizza delivery types using up their down time) come out and then they can't help but start to talk - if you're a good new band then people talk and the word spreads and wallop, the attention is yours. A number of people who's taste we know to be good have mentioned Alfa9 in recent weeks, the vine has been twitching - "never mind calling me up at this time in the morning asking how quickly I can get a pizza to you, how come you aren't talking about Alfa9?" Time to take a look. Off down Oxford St for an early evening first on encounter at Metro (avoid that new pastie shop over the road people, not good, even after a beer or five, stick with the pizza place around the corner, they're always outside giving out free samples, must be a secret service front, no one gives out free pizza that good). There's not many in here, those who are, are kind of buzzing and firing those knowing secret service type glances at each other. Classic English rock with a large psychedelic edge, think Stone Roses (or maybe the better bits of Squire's short lived and sometimes much loved Sea Horses), Woodstock period Who, Noel Gallagher style wall-of-guitar laced with astral-progressions and unfolding psychedelic britrock bite that's rather good for your bones, oh and maybe a bit of Zeppelin tooooooo. Alfa9 are from Up North somewhere - that much is obvious, they rather like their 70's psychedelic artwork and their Freakbeat look, yep, that's also obvious - they're not obvious though, they hint at things but it's never obvious - we've seen a million tiresome Stone Roses/Oasis/Who flavoured wannabes, Alfa9 are a lot more than that. They have a swagger, not too cocky, it's not a chip on the shoulder attitude thing, they just know.
The people in here know, yes indeed, they won't be playing first on the bill in midweek half empty venues for long Get along now, listen to the twitching vine.... www.alfa9.co.uk"
10/05

manchester 'night & day'
"…saw Alfa 9's Manchester debut a packed 'Night & Day'. It was very, very special indeed... No punk rock nonsense here... psychedelic drama unfolding in it's full glory... like watching Pink Floyd in the 'Pipers' era... the Rain Parade at their absolute finest... the look and kudos of L.A. 80's psyche modsters The Three O'Clock... the sheer energy of sense of occasion that Oasis, BRMC and Kasabian bring us... just about th

alfa 9 press BU034 "Then We Begin" clash magazine what's on classic rock total guitar hivoltage.org BU038 "Deadman" drownedinsound.com music-news.com subba-cultcha.com BU033 "For Your Bones" what's on the sun artrocker features poptones.com live reviews the organ manchester 'night & day'

		alfa 9 'then we begin' BU034 (CD, LP & digital) release: 7th august 2006

clash magazine "Recorded in The Charlatans' Big Mushroom studio, Alfa9's debut is a confident, elaborate trip through forty years of psychedelic rock. Having gigged across the country since their inception four years ago, Alfa9 have channelled everything into a definitive debut and produced a stunningly complete piece of music. Like most bands from outside one of the major music centres, they have found it hard getting noticed but rather than complain they just got their heads down and gigged and gigged. Given the reputation of their live shows as full on 'happenings' complete witha frazzled lightshow, it is easy to see why they have succeeded in breaking into the national circuit. Book-ended by instrumentals and boasting no less than three interludes shows the confidence they have in their material and the time their fans will invest in the music. A fully realised and hugely ambitious debut which succeeds on every level" 07/06 what's on "talent watch" "Their debut album Then We Begin puts the band in the same league as Echo & The Bunnymen or The Byrds and on more than equal pegging with the new generation of Liverpool bands like The Coral and The Zutons. Dreamy harmonies, chunky semi-acoustic guitars, spaced out tunes. If you like '60s era Pink Floyd or early Stone Roses you will find something to love and cherish here. 'Little Girl' has a folky hypnotic magic only matched by The Byrds 'Dolphin Smile' or Lennon's 'Julia' from The Beatles White Album. These talented twenty-somethings are going to be big news next year." J Coleman 08/12/05 classic rock "If the Stones Roses had lived in Haight-Asbury... Remember when, for a flicker, the Stones Roses blurred the line between indie, psychedelia and heritage rock with their 1994 album The Second Coming? Well, Alfa9 sound a bit like that. Then We Begin is a little naive and obvious in places, but the scope of "its psychedelic vision sweeps from late-60s San Francisco to mid-90s Manchester". Reminiscent of early Elbow and Cooper Temple Clause before both succumbed to the indie shilling. Then We Begin is authentic, rallying and, on tracks like For Your Bones and Flasher, almost brilliant. The Newcastle-under-Lyme band straddle psychedelia and indie, but so far have, thankfully, avoided stumbling into the latter's charms." 7/10 Malcolm Dome, Summer 2006 #96 total guitar "Alfa 9 are undoubtedly the most psychedelic thing to come out of Stoke. With tips of the hat to all the great stoner records (Dark Side Of The Moon is an obvious reference) their debut is not so much an album as a wall of sound, with no obvious breaks between tracks, lashings of harmonised vocals and some stunning Gilmour-esque solos." 8/10 Henry Yates, September 2006 #96 hivoltage.org "Probably the best thing to come out of the other Newcastle (Newcastle-under-Lyme) Alfa 9’s debut is a fusion of Merseyside tunes (The Coral, Echo and the Bunnymen) and the Mancunian giants (Stones Roses, The Smiths). Perhaps most alarmingly, the band and album have confidence in it yet to be seen in bands triple their age. Ambitiously the album works as a wall of sound, like a piece of artwork, with interludes cementing the album blocks neatly together. The band had obviously spent a large chunk of their childhood scaling through mum and dad’s vinyls as single ‘Deadman’ shows. It’s a pure slice of psychedelic ecstasy, nabbing, it feels in places, from Dark Side Of The Moon, but it’s the chorus that comes as a shock - a piece of pop that could have been a Byrds b-side or even an a-side. Where most bands are suffocated by the pressures of their local scene to conform to the “it” sound of the month, Alfa 9 have come out triumphant. Confident and unashamedly peddling their own well developed sound makes this one of the must hear debut albums of the year.." 4/5
		alfa 9 'deadman' BU038 (CDs, 7" & digital) release: 31st july 2006

DrownedInSound.com "Remember the first time you got taken up and away by the 'Floyd's blissful psychedelia? That's what the verse of 'Deadman' sounds like, which would be a good enough recommendation for buying this single on its own. But, if you stopped reading this review and did just that, you'd get one hell of a surprise when the chorus rushes in, propelled by mutiple layers of lead guitar. It steals the show in a The-Coral-harmonising-with-The-Byrds stylee and leaves you feeling like you've just been caught in the eye of a particularly forceful sonic storm. A great live act, too, Alfa 9 are without a doubt ones to watch in the coming months." 8/10 Rob Webb, 08/06 Music-News.com "Stunning guitars break out of the speakers before giving over to hazy vocals and classic CSN/Hollies style harmonies in a western styled call to the stage. Changing rhythms and Gilmour-esque guitar take the listener to places they weren’t expecting and maybe never wanted to visit in the first place but you can’t help listening. This is superbly crafted psychedelia for the 21st century and as perfect a summer rock number for 2006 as we are likely to get." 4/5 Andy Snipper, 08/06 Subba-Cultcha.com "With the wistful melancholy of David Gilmour at his epic best fused tightly to the jittering psychedelic melee of the Stone Roses at it’s sharpest, Alfa9 are the band to paint a multicoloured hole on a wall so we can all escape into their world… Last one in is a maggot!l" 08/06
		alfa 9 'for your bones' BU033 (ltd. 7"/digital) release: 5th december 2005

what's on "talent watch" "Forthcoming single, the psychedelic jangle-monster 'For Your Bones' is an artistic statement if ever I heard one. Their debut album Then We Begin puts the band in the same league as Echo & The Bunnymen or The Byrds and on more than equal pegging with the new generation of Liverpool bands like The Coral and The Zutons. Dreamy harmonies, chunky semi-acoustic guitars, spaced out tunes. If you like '60s era Pink Floyd or early Stone Roses you will find something to love and cherish here. 'Little Girl' has a folky hypnotic magic only matched by The Byrds 'Dolphin Smile' or Lennon's 'Julia' from The Beatles White Album. These talented twenty-somethings are going to be big news next year." J Coleman 08/12/05 the sun "Layer upon layer of guitars - this recalls The Who at their best." 4/5 02/12/05
artrocker "It seems to have taken the initiative of Pure Reason Revolution in teaching the kids that Pink Floyd records needn't be concealed in a brown paper bag. With prog having long been a word not even the Collins Dictionary would touch, Alfa 9 don't exactly embrace it in the same vein as PRR, but there are nods in that direction. Flourishing with a hazy, strong psychadelic edge that evokes images of smoky backstreet NYC dens and Led Zep freakouts, this track is an impressively confident debut." 11/05
		alfa 9 features
poptones.com "Its not so grim up north. Especially where new band 'ALFA 9' are concerned. In fact, its quite psychedelic. Alpha 9 are a pop-sensation, underlining Noel Gallagher's wall-of-guitars with astral-harmonies signalled straight in from Marc Bolan's grave and the pop sensability of the last Super Furry Animal on earth. ALFA 9 are the living embodiment of the Creation's pop manifesto 'Our Music Is Red With Purple Flashes'. So, err, look out for their orbit and The Charlatans want to produce their debut single and record companies are already speaking in hushed tones" 06/05
		alfa 9 live reviews
the organ BLOW UP CLUB @ METRO, OXFORD ST, LONDON "How do we get some attention, we're a new band, how do we get you to come to a gig?", it's so so so easy, you don't need to call us and beg, just get out there! If you're good and you're out there then the word naturally spreads and all kinds of good people (and lowlife wreckord company pimps, secret service agents and wired pizza delivery types using up their down time) come out and then they can't help but start to talk - if you're a good new band then people talk and the word spreads and wallop, the attention is yours. A number of people who's taste we know to be good have mentioned Alfa9 in recent weeks, the vine has been twitching - "never mind calling me up at this time in the morning asking how quickly I can get a pizza to you, how come you aren't talking about Alfa9?" Time to take a look. Off down Oxford St for an early evening first on encounter at Metro (avoid that new pastie shop over the road people, not good, even after a beer or five, stick with the pizza place around the corner, they're always outside giving out free samples, must be a secret service front, no one gives out free pizza that good). There's not many in here, those who are, are kind of buzzing and firing those knowing secret service type glances at each other. Classic English rock with a large psychedelic edge, think Stone Roses (or maybe the better bits of Squire's short lived and sometimes much loved Sea Horses), Woodstock period Who, Noel Gallagher style wall-of-guitar laced with astral-progressions and unfolding psychedelic britrock bite that's rather good for your bones, oh and maybe a bit of Zeppelin tooooooo. Alfa9 are from Up North somewhere - that much is obvious, they rather like their 70's psychedelic artwork and their Freakbeat look, yep, that's also obvious - they're not obvious though, they hint at things but it's never obvious - we've seen a million tiresome Stone Roses/Oasis/Who flavoured wannabes, Alfa9 are a lot more than that. They have a swagger, not too cocky, it's not a chip on the shoulder attitude thing, they just know. The people in here know, yes indeed, they won't be playing first on the bill in midweek half empty venues for long Get along now, listen to the twitching vine.... www.alfa9.co.uk" 10/05 manchester 'night & day' "…saw Alfa 9's Manchester debut a packed 'Night & Day'. It was very, very special indeed... No punk rock nonsense here... psychedelic drama unfolding in it's full glory... like watching Pink Floyd in the 'Pipers' era... the Rain Parade at their absolute finest... the look and kudos of L.A. 80's psyche modsters The Three O'Clock... the sheer energy of sense of occasion that Oasis, BRMC and Kasabian bring us... just about th
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