ALFIE, those roguish proponents of sunshine pop from the rain town of Manchester, have struck regal form on their new album on the aptly named Regal label.

York has an early chance to hear the pick of Crying At Teatime on Monday, ahead of its August 15 release, and self-effacing vocalist Lee Gorton could not be in more chipper mood.

"We strive to make better and better records, and with every record you try on a different suit, smarten yourself up and see how you look, and then you always feel ready to move on," he says.

"The last album (2003's Do You Imagine Things?) got knocked but it was just a bit schizophrenic, and though I don't think the new record is the best album we can make, it's the one we've done. It's accomplished and likeable, where the last one was scholarly!" he says."I'm excited. We've learnt more making this record than ever before and we've all got a better attitude. We had to make sure we got the chance to do the next one because the last one was so weird, and they just didn't know what to make of it. This album is more palatable, though you can still get your headphones on under the duvet if you want a nice moment getting stoned," Lee says.

Alfie have been called lazy, a jibe that can only be enhanced by the hiatus between albums three and four, but Lee is quick to counter: "Everyone says we're lazy; it must be the attitude we give off, but we're right on it. We didn't finish touring the last album until March 2004, when we were touring with the Flaming Lips, and then we were back in the studio in September and wrote about 50-60 songs for this album, sending them down to the label to see what they would bite."

Hardly lazy then. "Now we're concentrating on getting it right live, and we're better live than ever before," says Lee. "There are no shaky house moments or telling crap jokes to get us through!"

Alfie, Fibbers, York, Monday (25th), £7.

Updated: 08:57 Friday, July 22, 2005