 TN026 - IF HAPPY WITH YOU NEED DO NOTHING - ALFIE Catalogue Number: TN026 Release Date: 26th March 2001 Format: CD & 12" Vinyl Production Notes All songs written and performed by Alfie. Produced by Joe Robinson. Original artwork by Claire Howard with Lee and Ian. Alfie illustrations by Lisa Patterson. Art direction by Alfie and Andy Votel. Reviews CITY LIFE - 24th March / 5th April 2001 Of all the flak thrown Twisted Nerve's way of late, you could never accuse them of trying too hard. With Damon Gough more prone to playing the goat than songs at gigs, and Dave Tyack releasing whole albums of intro sequences, this is one cottage industry untrammelled by the rigours of workman-like discipline. To this end, we have dainty young proteges Alfie and debut album If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing (actually more a compilation of their much collectable three EPs), a record of such hushed reverie it barely registers at times. Opener 'Bookends' warmly unravels the workshy aesthetic, its rousing ambience and chiming instruments all akin to a scally-engorged take on Belle & Sebastian's wide-eyed folk splendour. But for all the cries of winsome tweeness (Indeed, lo-fi efforts like 'James' Dream' are possibly over-cute distractions), its the album's bulkier moments (read: 'pop songs') which truly shine through. 'Just About The Weather' is probably the most orthodox thing here, a woozy pop rush redolent of latter-day Dylan-tinged Charlatans (whom, incidentally they now share management with). But the real artillery arrives with the mid-album couplet of Tou Make No Bones' and the gloriously baggy psychedelia of Umlaut', proving there's much more to Alfie than feel-good stoner vibes. Workshy? Possibly. But when they're producing songs of such dizzying joy - and with such throwaway care - you can only gasp at what Alfie are capable of when they get their lazy arses off those stools. Simply magical. David Sue DAILY EXPRESS - 23rd March 2001 At the end of last year we identified Alfie as a name to watch in 2001 and there's nothing in this shambling collection of songs to make us think we were wrong. But, then again, maybe that's just because only two of, the 11 tracks here are new. If You Happy... is essentially a collection of their work to date, drawing their three EPs together. Although they're going to be lumped in with this year's New Acoustic bands, Alfie are a million |y miles from those Nick Drake wannabees. They don't fit into normal structures. Draw a line between The Beta Band and Badly Drawn Boy and, although they don't have the magic of either of those two, you're going to get the idea. Like The Betas, there's a charming lo-fi shuffling quality here, a feeling that the songs aren't so much unfinished as unconfined. But behind that, there's a surprising delicacy, a fragile: soul. Take a chance. There's real quality lurking here. THE GUARDIAN - 23rd March 2001 The title to Alfie's debut album almost amounts to a manifesto. Like their label-owner/mate Badly Drawn Boy, they radiate bumbling, lackadaisical charm; but whereas Damon Gough is secretly hiding a driving ambition, this young Manchester quintet seem really content to go with the flow. So this album is actually a collection of gleaming, remastered songs from their Bookends, Montevideo and Alfie EPs; Bookends aches, Manor House Farm sighs and You Make No Bones bounds delightfully, but it's still a disappointment not to find more new tracks. The two that are here are superb: Umlaut opens with quiet, skittering riffs, suddenly skates into huge metallic chords, and thrillingly maintains the dynamic interplay throughout, while Lee Gorton battles with a synth to create the squealiest sound. 2 Up 2 Down, meanwhile, is the only track where vocal duties pass over to cellist Matt McGeever; his voice is all ingenuous sweetness, and can actually hold a tune, which is more than can be said for Gorton. Elsewhere, though, it's the contrast between Gorton's cats-on-the-rooftops miaow and McGeever's lovingly drawn-out cello lines that make Alfie such an exciting prospect. On this strength, the deburt album proper promises to be extraordinary. MC NME - 24th March 2001 "Compilation of first three EPs makes first promising album". The very concept of a New Acoustic Movement sounds like a Maoist re-education policy, deprogramming listeners of any attachment to such modern fripperies as dance, metal, hip- hop, hell, electricity - and hanging a big placard bearing the head of Fred Durst around the necks of recidivists. Manchester collective Alfie have been named leaders of this stealthy mission, yet this compilation of their first three EPs - plus new tracks '2 Up 2 Down' and 'Umlaut' -certainly doesn't indicate young men hung up on principles of maudlinity and purism. They never confuse the pastoral with the agricultural, and devoid of that oaty, whiskery Luddisrn that often lurks around the 'folk-tinged', Alfie create a merrier rural idyll - a sprightly Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe tableau, a group of young boys frolicking on lawns with cellos and brass, a free-range healthiness that tend these songs such a plump wenchly winsomeness and gleeful wayward glint. In the best possible way, these 11 songs are effortless, like this is the music they could be bothered to make in between gambolling and experimenting and living the kind of sun-dappled, smoke-scented lives of which people walled up in offices and inhibitions can only dream. Yet this is music that is far from naive or innocent - there should be no doubt that we are dealing with a smart band here, and not a flock of spring lambs strayed into rock'n'roll's fold. 'It's Just About The Weather' (from the 'Montevideo' EP) shows how Lee Gorton's sunsheeeeine inflections can sound like a feathery cherub-Liam, while 'The Stone Roses' baggy swagger underwrites their buoyant attitude. Better still is their effusive creativity: while most bands who try to combine folk seriousness with knowing about trainers end up in that tepid pool of 'comedown music' - the kind of earnest-faced strum only Beth Orton could love - Alfie's playful instrumentation is too adventurous to settle for being the afterthought to a heavy make 'Check The Weight' fade out like a prototype pre-industrial Tortoise, or the excellent 'Umlaut' mimic the woozy flow and weave of My Bloody Valentine. They can tug jazz into 'You Make No Bones', drag Belle & Sebastian into a busy road on '2 Up 2 Down', or pinpoint Manchester as the alt-countryside on 'Manor House Farm'. One laid back band with a very loose plan, if it's going to work, it's going to work like a dream. We certainly happy with, for now. Victoria Segal THE TIMES - 23rd March 2001 ALFIE IS a slightly discouraging name for a band. It smacks of cheeky Britpop chappies in Ben Sherman shirts churning out three-minute homages to the Small Faces. However, a look at the label releasing this album Ñ a collection of their first three EPs, plus two new songs Ñ is enough to reduce any concerns. Twisted Nerve is the imprint set up by Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy. who won last year's Mercury Music Prize) and Andy Votel. It is also the home of an adventurous little roster of acts, including me oddballers Mum and Dad and Alfie. You won't catch any Ben Sherman-wearers on this label Ñ unless, of course. Sherman has branched out into making tea-cosy hats. Alfie occupy the same loose-fit, eclectic territory as Badly Drawn Boy and the Beta Band, and they are similarly fond of using non-rock'n'roll instruments, such as the French horn and cello. That said, they never forget the need for a decent tune to act as a rudder for their more extravagant voyages into instrumental whimsy. The swirling beauty of It's Just About the Weather, for example, may feature a lovely piano and cello coda, but its Stone Roses-at-33RPM melody is scrumptious, underpinned by a simple, economical guitar riff. The Stone Roses reference is no red herring. either. The singer Lee Gorton has a voice not dissimilar to that of lan Brown, as has the group's cellist. Matt McGeever, who sings on 2 Up 2 Down, one of the two fine new songs. The other new song, Umlaut, is particularly splendid, however, and gives the lie to the notion that Alfie are standard bearers for that music press construct the New Acoustic Movement. It may start in a sweet, pastoral fashion, but it soon explodes into a keyboard maelstrom that is strangely reminiscent of Mirwais's Dfsco Science Ñ with added French horns, of course. PaulÊConnolly XFM.CO.UK Debut collection of rare and new tracks from Manc NAM leaders It's the first time you heard 'Bring It On'. The first time you saw Damon Gough and his tea cosy. It's the Mondays and the Roses on Top of the Pops. Lee Gorton from Alfie has one of those voices. The first time you hear it, something clicks. To hell with that macho, misogynist sports metal rubbish. NAM is where I wanna be. Different worlds, mate. Alfie's debut album is a collection of tracks from their three highly desirable 7inch singles, plus a couple of new tracks for the die-hards. Words that keep popping up in my notes: languid, meandering, hypnotic, laconic, fresh, baggy folk, cowbells... The key player here, in addition to Gorton's Tim Charlatan style drawl, is Matt McGeever, whose cello often forms the backbone of tracks, like 'James' Dream' and 'Sure And Simple Time.' Why be hindered with the simple bass-guitar-drums arrangement, when you could have so much more? Hence trumpets on 'Talking Song', and the aforementioned cowbells which grace 'Check The Weight.' Restrictions only exist if you let them exist, and so Alfie regularly play live with upwards of seven people onstage. The songs themselves have the watchword set firmly as 'gentle'. The opening 'Bookends' takes a minute to slouch, wearily into position, and vocals and cello are indistinguishable. '2 Up 2 Down,' with Matt on vocals, could easily be confused for labelmate Badly Drawn Boy on one of his more campfire folky tracks. Older tracks 'Sure and Simple Time' and 'Check the Weight' have a minimalist Belle And Sebastian vibe to them, but without the tweeness. The latter is quiet to the point of being almost apologetic. Only the new track 'Umlaut' shows any signs of what pop pickers would define 'a chorus', and retains the general sense of dewy fresh euphoria. Alfie's reputation as the English Beta Band is not entirely well founded, nor otherwise. 'Its Just About the Weather' and 'Montevideo' are well structured, whilst others are more random, Betas style. 'Talking Song', for example, is weak and only redeemed by those crazy trumpets. This is a minor flaw. 'If You Happy...' is an insistent album, one that will take some effort on the part of the listener, but will provide the same enjoyment that the first Gomez album did. The song 'James' Dream' captures the mood best. It's an instrumental, but at the end you can hear some kids talking indistinctly. You can hear their sounds but not their words. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't have to make sense. 9/10 Samir Muthar |