ALFA 9

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