Duffy - Rockferry (Album)

8:00pm Saturday 29th March 2008

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AS A boy growing up in Middlesbrough, Duffy was a name to strike fear into the heart of anyone who hadn't hit puberty and filled out a bit yet.

Not only was it the family name of one of the town's most notorious crime families, but also two of the top five hardest lads in my year. In tales regailed to trembling year sevens on their first day by demonic-faced prefects, the word Duffy' was synonymous with wedgies, Chinese burns and having your head flushed down a toilet.

The obvious joke here would be to liken the experience of listening to Rockferry to the painful and humiliating experiences suffered upon me and countless others at the hands of this artist's square-headed namesakes. Thankfully it is anything but.

Duffy has produced a debut album that is an absolute treat to listen to. Rockferry includes the 23-year-old Welsh singer's hit single Mercy but almost every track is enjoyable in its own way and many feel as if they have been written in an era of Dusty Springfield or Arethra Franklin.

So good that you could almost enjoy it from the bottom of a ubend. Almost.