Musically they're a disparate bunch, but the acts signed to Twisted Nerve (the Manchester label co-owned by Badly Drawn Boy and producer Andy Votel) do share a laudable desire to put on a show, to make each live appearance somehow unique. Since they are playing the Comedy Store, Alfie - purveyors of bright, wonky folk-pop - are introduced by a bloke impersonating Sparks's Ron Mael, who sings a song about stalking Judy Finnegan while playing florid air-keyboard. Later, as it's Christmas, they close their set, crackers raining down on the audience, with a touching version of the Pogues' Fairytale of New York, with Clair Pearson of labelmates Mum&Dad in the role Kirsty MacColl was best known for. Both are the sort of unexpected jolts that stamp a gig on the memory, while the rest of the set confirms every plaudit thrown Alfie's way this year.
Barely three EPs old, Alfie are already tipped for very big things. If they feel any pressure, they wear it well. Five mop-haired, unshaven lads (plus occasional flautist, trumpet player and multi-instrumental mate), they have a carefree air that you'd put down to plenty of wine and hash - if they didn't play so well. Sat on a stool, jumper sleeves pulled over his hands, singer Lee Gorton - a mischievous urchin with a look of Ian Brown and a voice that wavers between dulcet ache and Manc drawl - grins and swaps banter with punters as naturally as others breathe.
Between Sean Kelly's loose-limbed, sensitive drumming and Matt McGeever's stately cello, Alfie merge experimental American guitar-rock with the best of British songwriting. Often simultaneously, you can hear echoes of the Charlatans' hip-swinging insouciance, Jim O'Rourke's skittish guitar-work, minimalist post-rock and Simon and Garfunkel. Richly melodic songs are expertly skewed - there's the wheezing keyboard employed during Montevideo, say - but Alfie also know when to play it straight. Noel Gallagher, in his quieter moments, would kill for It's Just About the Weather, while You Make no Bones (baggy Bob Dylan) and Summer Lane are first-rate pop. Once fragile, Alfie have matured to become supple and robust. Even tracks such as Check Your Weight, a song still rubbing sleep from its eyes, benefit.
Charismatic, feelgood, vulnerable but not fey, there's a lot to love about Alfie. They handle a keyboard breaking down mid-song with an honest bemusement that has the crowd roaring approving. As a band, Alfie are in the zone. Tonight, they can do no wrong.
