Alfie

by Greg Prato
The Manchester quintet Alfie (singer Lee Gorton, guitarist Ian Smith, cellist Matt McGeever, bassist Sam Morris, and drummer Sean Kelly), came about in the late '90s after Gorton became increasingly fed up with the local music scene -- when most bands at the time were merely rehashing Oasis songs. The band caught a break with their very first show when the U.K. publication NME was doing an article on several different British music scenes, and happened to come upon the new group, reviewing the show and printing a picture of the band. The band soon befriended Damon Gough (better-known as Badly Drawn Boy), who promptly signed the group to his newly founded Twisted Nerve label. Shortly after, Alfie issued several singles/EPs -- The Alfie EP, Bookends, and Montevideo, while their full-length debut, If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing, saw the light of day in 2001.