Do a ballsy band led by a mouthy Mancunian called Liam have the songs to match the swagger? Definitely maybe, their singer tells Jonathan Trew

THERE can't be many bands that could boast they had half of U2 as their support act when their third single was still to be released. That is because not many bands have frontmen with the chutzpah of Liam Fray, lead singer with Manchester's fast-rising Courteeners and a man not prone to hiding lights, especially his own, under bushels.

Looking back to last November, when they played the opening set at a charity acoustic night, Bono and The Edge probably don't think of themselves as the support group for the evening but 22-year-old Fray has his own way of seeing things.

"It was weird when Bono supported us at Union Chapel in London," he says. "Jo Whiley does these gigs for Mencap and I was asked to do an acoustic set. They always have special guests. Last year it was Chris Martin. This year, it was Bono and The Edge. They went on before us. It was f***ing brilliant. Afterwards they were coming up to us and Bono was saying how much he loved us and how we were the best thing he had seen in ages. We were lapping it up."

Fray is aware that his is not the first band to come swaggering out of the north-west of England with a gobby lead singer and a fistful of rabble-rousing tunes guaranteed to ignite mosh pits from Southend to Aberdeen. Like every musician, he doesn't want to be labelled too easily but at the same time recognises that there are aspects of his life that might seem curiously familiar to fans of other Manc bands. "We have a lot more to offer than people think," he says, "but when you are called Liam, come from Manchester, are particularly good looking and say the F word once in a while then that's it; they have made up their mind."

What sets the Courteeners apart is the melodies underpinning their songs. Played acoustically, they are just as convincing as when performed in a full band setting. The Courteeners have the talent to step out from any shadows their forebears may have cast. Their third single, the rollicking 'What Took You So Long', marched into the Top 20 on its release a month ago.

Before forming the band with three of his friends, Fray used to take his guitar around pubs in Manchester and play solo for beer. The strength of his songs and his voice got him noticed but, while those qualities are still at the heart of the Courteeners' appeal, Fray knew that he was destined be in a musical gang or band. "Doing the pubs was just me playing around. It wasn't me trying to get signed or be an acoustic artist. I wasn't into that wet, drab persona they have. It was always going to be a band."

While the Courteeners have only been gigging for a couple of years, they have amassed a large, passionate fanbase. While the hype machine is currently cranking up to fever pitch, Fray is particularly proud of the fact that the band was pulling the punters long before the music business started shouting about them.

"We played to 500 people in Manchester last June before we had even brought anything out. The NME didn't even know who we were then," says Fray. "It was purely word of mouth. We are not the next best thing. We are here now. This is our second sold-out tour in three months. It's not hype any more. People are coming to the gigs and it's not chin-strokers at the back. They are full of kids going absolutely mental and they know all the words to the songs."

Bono may not be looking over his shoulder just yet but Fray certainly has the self belief to predict great things for he Courteeners' debut album, scheduled for release in April. Produced by Stephen Street, who also polished records by the Smiths, Blur and the Zutons, it is called Saint Jude.

"Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes so it's a ray of hope for all the kids who feel that they are a lost cause," says Fray. Not that he is in much danger of feeling like a lost cause.v

• www.myspace.com/thecourteeners