Nirvana. Nirvana. Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana. Ok, got it all out of the system. Nirvana. Damn it, won't happen again, promise. Nirv... Breathe. Concentrate. *slap*. Wooh. Ah. Better. Back in control. Admittedly, it's lazy journalism to compare Nine Black Alps to the N-word band, but listening to Not Everyone that's all anyone can really say.

Because it's such a Nirvana song. Make a list of things that you'd expect on a Kurt Cobain record and then watch as they appear, one-by-one before you: quiet verse / loud chorus dynamic (nicked from the Pixies, as any good indie-pedant will tell you)? Affirmative. Ringing guitars with metallic feedback? Check. Grohl-esque drumming? Abso-posi-lutely. Tortured vocals? Present and correct, Sir!

Once that idea is implanted in your mind, it proves impossible to shift; there isn't anything else here. Influences are fine, influences are great, but when those same points of reference stop being signposts and start being the destination, it's time to worry. Or, alternatively, we could just dig out the plaid and go with it.