With almost perfect timing, the release of a new Alfie album coincides nicely with the sun coming back out. Along with the effortless genius of Badly Drawn Boy's upcoming 'About A Boy' soundtrack, it's as though Twisted Nerve are saying "It's okay, we're back, you can put away your waterproofs and get a smile back on your face."
The genius of Alfie lies in their breezin' languorous strum and the warm, possibly-still-in-bed tones of Lee Gorton, opting for taking things a little bit easier. Lumbered in with the New Acoustic Lot a year ago, simply because they didn't 'rock' and owned a duffel, Alfie have spent most of their pop-life so far being stalked by words like 'folk' and 'beards'. 'A Word In
Your Ear' should go some way to help shake off that tag.
Produced by the band, each toot, parp and scrape has had a chance to flourish and breathe, sounding more expansive and layered than first album 'If You Happy With You Need Do Nothing'. A new, meatier sound is in evidence on the waltzy 'Not Half' and the lovely rambling of 'Halfway Home'.
The title track - and single - gives off a Manc Crosby Stills & Nash vibe, before the pastoral mooching of 'Cloudy Lemonade' finds a tree to sit under, plus as a bonus, there's evidence of actual jug blowing on 'Me And Mine'. It's not all shambly-but-pleasing noodling though, with the rattling village-hall northern-soul of 'Summer Lanes' and the squally groove of 'Bends For 72 Miles' showing that the Alf can do alert when they want to.
Rich in texture and warm as the first flush of summer, you can almost smell the freshly cut grass on 'A Word In Your Ear'. It's an album that makes you want to hop on your Ninja to get pleasingly plastered in a mate's garden, or head down to the river for picnics and smokes. Quite marvellous.
