Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

Nine Lives – Cutthroat Friends (2021)

Fusing the sounds of Queens of the Stone Age, Arcade Fire and Nirvana, Cardiff-based duo Nine Lives is a bundle of gritty, raw and hard-hitting noise. While the project is almost two years old, the garage rockers are still up and coming but they have made their way through the blogosphere. Capturing critics on A&R Factory, Home Cooking Share, iHeart Radio and several podcasts/playlists, Nine Lives is reaching people on an international scale. We have the honour of reviewing their debut single ‘Cutthroat Friends’.



Describing themselves as a “noisy two-piece posting as a three-piece with a huge and heavy, rough and ready sound”, the pair are louder than life. Using a combination of dynamic guitars, pounding drums and an array of amplifiers to take on the sound of a second guitarist, Nine Lives plunge you into a whirlpool of sound with ‘Cutthroat Friends’. Yet, while the melody represents turbulent sonic waves, there is a flowing harmony within the brash garage rock.

Highly reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys, Nine Lives use an abrupt delivery to add a raw attitude to their music. As with Meg White, Hero Fancett works the drums while Topher Hughes smashes the guitar with ease similar to Jack White. While there is a similarity in the overall tune, it is Hughes’s execution of blunt lyricism that adds an extra grungy meets metal edge to the song. Oddly enough, while there is a painful brusqueness to the vocal delivery ‘Cutthroat Friends’ is toe-tappingly smooth and hypnotic.

In addition to the single, Nine Lives released an official music video for ‘Cutthroat Friends’. While I was not able to view the video in its entirety, due to the strobe effects, what I saw was rather intriguing. Cleverly using a black and white texture showing Hughes and Fancett playing their instruments, Nine Lives add a grimy visual element to ‘Cutthroat Friends’. As I said, I wasn’t able to watch the majority of the video (pretty much all of it), but I do think this was a beautiful representation of Nine Lives music and style.


THIS VIDEO USES STROBE EFFECTS AND CAN CAUSE SEIZURES IN PEOPLE WITH PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY.
VIEW AT OWN DISCRETION.

For more from Nine Lives check out their official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.

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