Phil Mason Guitar, Vocals Ali Heath Bass, Vocals Leon Jones Guitar Andy Vernon Drums
an introduction
".......Classic English rock with a large psychedelic edge, think Stone Roses......... Woodstock period Who, Noel Gallagher style wall-of-guitar laced with astral-progressions and unfolding psychedelic brit-rock 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 Organ - October 2005
Then We Begin Album Reviews 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. Rating: 8/10by Henry Yates Total Guitar - September 2006
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 channeled 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 with a 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. Clash Magazine - July 2006
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 naïve and obvious in places, but the scope of its psychedelic vision sweeps from late-60s San Francisco to mid-90s Madchester. 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. Rating: 7/10by Malcolm Dome Classic Rock Magazine - Summer 2006
Deadman Single Reviews 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. Rating: 8/10by Rob Webb www.drownedinsound.com - July 2006
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 werent expecting and maybe never wanted to visit in the first place but you cant 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. Rating: 4/5 by Andy Snipper www.music-news.com - 4 August 2006
With the wistful melancholy of David Gilmour at his epic best fused tightly to the jittering psychedelic melee of the Stone Roses at its sharpest, Alfa9 are the band to paint a multi-coloured hole on a wall so we can all escape into their world....Last one in is a maggot! www.subba-cultcha.com - August 2006
For Your Bones Single & Then We Begin Album Review Formed in Newcastle-under- Lyme a couple of years ago five-piece Alfa 9 have been gigging constantly and honing their art. 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. John Coleman - London 'What's On' - 8 December 2005
For Your Bones Single Reviews Layer upon layer of guitars - This recalls The Who at their best Rating: 4/5 The Sun Newspaper - 2 December 2005
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 psychedelic edge that evokes images of smoky backstreet NYC dens and Led Zep freakouts, this track is an impressively confident debut. Artrocker - November 2005
LIVE Reviews The Metro, London July 6th 2006 Who said prog rock was dead? It's alive, acid fuelled and dripping off the walls at the Metro tonight. With disarming vocal harmonies and swirling riffs this band could quite possibly be the Pink Floyd of the future. Guitars slide and sprinkle over monstrous drums creating a wall of sound that's impossible to ignore. If there was ever a band to make you want to munch some magic mushrooms and run naked through a field it's this one. Go lose your weekend in their melodies. I am. Emma Edmondson UNPEELED - August 2006
Our debut album was described in Clash magazine as... "A fully realised and hugely ambitious debut which succeeds on every level"!! Released on CD, LP & digital
BIOGRAPHY OK, so it's mid-2006 and any group looking to be
a part of the Brit-rock resurgence better have all the
necessary ingredients: tinny, post-Libertines guitar sound?
Check! Stage-school, say-nothing interview technique?
Check! Zero knowledge of anything that happened in the
years B.C (Before Cassablancas)? Check!
Time, then, for a group blessed with a musical depth
and lyrical imagination way beyond such fashion-led
fodder.
Meet Alfa 9 (singer-guitarist: Phil Mason, Ali Heath-vocals/bass,
Leon Jones-guitar, Jamie Gordon-keyboards, Andy Shaw-drums).
Formed in Newcastle-Under-Lyme eighteen months ago,
this photogenic quintet are the latest in a long line
of musicians who tap into the British equivalent of
'cosmic americana'.
Inspired initially by The Stone Roses, Shack, and Verve's
debut album 'A Storm In Heaven' they have
traced their influences to the source, embracing everything
from 'Dark Side Of the Moon' to the West
Coast Pop Art Experimental band en route. The name,
meanwhile, was indirectly inspired by literary great
William Burroughs.
"I was reading about what Burroughs and Brion
Gyson got up to in Paris" explains singer Phil
(dark, bit of a catch, looks like a star-gazing Carl
Barat).
"They experimented with dream machines, which are
these revolving lights which when looked at for long enough
produce alpha-wave activity in the brain, leading to other-worldy
visions. "
So far, so esoteric. But Alfa 9 aren't here
to wallow in a fug of narcotics whilst the world drifts
by their window. There's a grainy realism to their
lyrics prompted by an adolescence where excitement came
and went with whoever played the Wolverhampton Little
Civic.
"I think the lyrics are a reflection of where
we grew up" continues Ali.
"It's pretty fucking grim where we're
from, and you're not encouraged to do anything
different" adds Keith Moon-a-like drummer Andy.
"We'd rather reflect that in the music than
make it too obvious. Suede's 'Dog Man Star'
is a good example: it's a dark record but you
still feel like you're stepping into a different
universe."
Indeed. Whilst their peers sledgehammer home the horrors
of city centres deserted but for whirring CCTV's,
Alfa 9 achieve the same effect via a mellifluous menace.
Duly snapped up by the management company responsible
for psych-godfathers Echo & the Bunnymen, the band
signed to Blow Up records for debut single 'For
Your Bones' (released Dec 2005). A haunting slice
of psych-pop, it coincided with a spate of gigs where
the band could show-off both their Floyd-like live extravaganza
and get to grips with Service Station cuisine.
"Gigs are one-offs" enthuses Ali.
"There's a communal aspect to them where
you can get lost in the music. Better still, you learn
something every time."
The lessons learned at over a hundred gigs have been
channelled into debut album 'Then We Begin'
(released August 7th). Recorded over six weeks at The
Charlatans Big Mushroom studios, it is, quite simply,
a gem. Full of euphoric surges, cool dignity and a scope
to shame the guitar-pop scenesters clogging up the charts,
it is as expansive as Secret Machines but as neo-folky
as Dungen. If the meticulously layered instrumentation,
and glacial pop tunes don't move you, songs like
new single 'Deadman' suggest chart occupation
is imminent.
"Deadman' is such a good song" enthuses
Phil.
"It sounds beautiful in one sense, but if you
look a little more closely at it, there's darkness
in there too.".
'Give Me Your Heart Again', meanwhile, could
be the Coral at their peak, with the playground surrealism
traded in for a more worldly-wise mindset. There are
traces of sweaty old rock music, but 'Then We
Begin' always ends up sounding thoroughly modern.
Don't dip in, is the subtext, dive into the depths
of the past and see what you can find. As Phil says:
"Dust off your headphones and make up your own
mind."
These astral arbiters of faith, dope and clarity will
be playing live near you soon.
Alfa 9: watch the skies.
by Paul Moody - July 2006
NEWS LIVE DATES ANNOUNCED The band break their long silence with the announcement that they will play 2 live shows at the beginning of April in Stoke on Trent then Newcastle under Lyme. See 'Upcoming Shows' section for details.
RELEASES
Single 'Deadman' released 31st July 2006
Album 'Then We Begin' released 7th August
2006
Deadman - 31st July
7" - BU038
CD - BU038CD
DL - BU038DD
DL - BU038DDE
Then We Begin - 7th August
LP - BU034LP
CD - BU034CD
DL - BU034DD
Previous single (Dec 2005) For Your Bones 7" and download single
Label - Blow Up Records - Catalogue No BU033
Hey ! how are you ? dont think we have spoken in a while ! . We just wanted to let you know we have 4 BRAND NEW SONGS from our debut EP up on our player now, it would mean the world to us if you could listen to them and tell us what you think :) thanks so much for your time its really appreciated !
Quelques news de deja vu: notre album "Roulette Russe" sort (enfin!!) officiellement le 09 novembre prochain (mvs records/anticraft)! Il sera dispo dans tous les bacs hexagonaux, sortie numérique etc...
Deux concerts en novembre pour fêter tout ça: le 17 novembre au Batofar à Paris, et le 27 novembre à la Marquise à Lyon (gratuit!!). Tu seras là?
How are you, ALFA 9? Haven't checked in on you lately, so I swung by to say "HI" &hope you are feeling well! Listen, I have another track up on my page, "Attack Of The Mushroom People." You can hear it right now, if you'd like at: www.myspace.com/psychedelicpablo adios! Pablo
