- Label
- Island
- Release date
- 29th October 2007
- Genre
- Rock
West coast surf pop moments save Manc indie rockers’ career - just
Everything Is, the 2005 debut album from this young Mancunian four-piece, was a disaster. After a frenzied A&R scramble, the band seemed far too fixated on how good everyone said they were to be bothered to write any tunes. Then, amidst the hype, the public stared indifferently as Nine Black Alps sweatily paid homage to their early Nineties heroes, Nirvana and Sonic Youth, all the while looking like a sixth-form Ride.
This return sees a partial shift in approach. Love/Hate was recorded in California with Dave Sardy (Oasis, Jet) and, in more melodious moments, anachronistic grunge is forsaken for a sunshiney, US west coast sound. Teenage Fanclub and the Lemonheads are welcome references here – the former on the gloriously big-hearted Bitter End, the latter on the sing-a-long stomp of Future Wife. If only such joy was more prominent. Elsewhere, it’s back to frantic Nineties indie rock with big guitars trying their best to disguise forgettable hooks and lyrics, bringing to mind a similarly limited outfit with an equally bland-voiced frontman - Ash. Love/Hate is by no means another disaster, but you feel time is running out for a band still finding its feet.
