In October of last year a little known band from Manchester named Alfie broke up. The event hardly registered. Back in 2001 it seemed the world was about to fall in love with Lee Gorton's low ebbed tales about manor house farm and a dream James had. Gorton’s uncanny vocal resemblance to Ian Brown (and Tim Burgess for that matter) and his rather chimp like chiselled features also meant that he was offered the role to play Brown in '24 Hour Party People'. He turned it down. Alfie's debut is their coup de grace, a collection of 3 early EP's that nonetheless play like a seamless collection of tunes. 'Bookends' is the opener and reveals itself to be a polished exhibition of eye opening acoustics. Matt McGeever's forlorn cello plays so gently one hardly notice the tinkle of the xylophone in close proximity. Gorton delivers his lines in drawn out melodic sequences, fighting to be heard above a heavy quota of lo-fied instrumentation. This is as delicate as a gosling, as graceful as a swan and the only thing required to have you seek out Alfie's accomplished back catalogue. KD

Alfie - Bookends

More Info: Alfie
Buy Album: [UK] If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing [US] If You Happy With, You Need Do Nothing
Year: 2001

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