Great party music
trainreader | Montclair, N.J. | 12/03/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Inspiral Carpets would have been a great band to have at a rowdy college fraternity party, with their bouncy retro organ driven tunes, frequent changes of pace, and catchy lyrics, sounding almost like a British version of the B-52s. I can't for the life of me understand why they weren't more popular and receive more radio play in the U.S. (and why there are no other reviews for this album). Out of their four albums, "Life" (their debut) is probably the most fun, although I think "Revenge of the Gold Fish" stands out as their best.
"Life" consists of 16 songs, and I like 12 of them, which, for me, is an unusually high percentage. The only songs I can do without are track 7 ("Memories of You") which sounds like a poor imitation of Pink Floyd, and the last three tracks, which are uncharacteristic and tend to drag. Of the 12 songs I like, if I had to name favorites, I would say they are "Commercial Rain," "Monkey on my Back," "Sun Don't Shine" (even though it has the sappiest lyrics this side of the Beach Boys), and my favorite "Weakness," one of the band's very best songs, period.
While their were certainly better bands that came out of Britain in the early 90's, nevertheless one should give the Inspiral Carpets a listen, and groove to that infectious organ!"