Nine Black Alps

Manchester, England gave rise to indie rock outfit Nine Black Alps, whose lineup comprises Sam Forrest on vocals and guitar, James Galley on drums and vocals, Martin Cohen on bass, and David Jones on guitar. The quartet formed in 2003 and took its name from a phrase in Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Couriers.” In 2005 the group secured a U.K. recording contract with Island, after which its debut full-length, Everything Is, appeared that June. A U.S. agreement with Interscope followed, along with the July release of a self-titled EP. While the band played shows alongside the Kaiser Chiefs, Hard-Fi, and Weezer and performed at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Reading, and Leeds, four of its singles—“Shot Down,” “Not Everyone,” “Unsatisfied,” and “Just Friends”—reached the Top 40. Rob Schnapf, whose past credits include Beck, Elliott Smith, and the Vines, produced Everything Is, which reached American stores in February 2006; a limited six-track EP titled Glitter Gulch surfaced soon afterward. That summer brought West Coast dates supporting Social Distortion, and the group’s sophomore album, Love/Hate, arrived in October 2007. After parting ways with its major label, Nine Black Alps issued a third album, Locked Out from the Inside, on its own Lost House Records imprint in October 2009. Cohen’s exit paved the way for bassist Karl Astbury, previously of the Witches; Cohen later signed Milk Maid to Fat Cat and turned to rock photography. A subsequent arrangement with Leeds-based Brew Records yielded the band’s fourth album, Sirens, in October 2012. When Brew shuttered the next year, Nine Black Alps moved to Hatch Records and delivered its fifth album, Candy for the Clowns, in 2014.