What with a new Inspiral Carpets compilation coming out in March and a UK tour, I feel compelled to ask: are the Inspiral Carpets utterly underrated? Their songs are amazing, a mixture of social realism and psychedelia, their harmonies mind blowing… And yet they never seem to get the love they deserve.
They are kind of a little goofy maybe. But I love that about them. And they’re not as retro as you might think: Caravan has a kind of Italo house piano to it and some of their remixes (eg Justin Robertson’s take on Caravan or The Forgemasters’ remix of Commercial Reign) are fantastic. (They do have some really horrible remixes too but let’s not think about them.)
Not if you go to a place in Manchester and Clint Boon’s DJing, which inevitably he will be.
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i get the impression this thread might leave you thinking, ‘this is how it feels to be lonely’
edit: I saw one of the singers do a pub gig about 10 years ago and he was good
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I haven’t been to Manchester in ages. Maybe this is the problem.
So this is how it feels to be underrated,
This is how it feels to be small
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Yeah, very underrated I reckon. I know it’s an obvious one, but Saturn 5 is just a brilliant, brilliant song. Never tire of hearing it. They do seem like a bit of a forgotten band. Shame as they’ve got loads of good stuff to dig through.
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What a great opening couplet “Husband don’t know what he’s done / Kids don’t know what’s wrong with mum” is. Really paints a picture in just two lines.
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I think the name and the ‘Cow’ stuff made them seem a bit like a novelty act, but their songs have weathered a lot better than some from the same era. ‘Move’ and ‘She comes in the Fall’ in particular sound great.
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Love 'em
Revenge of the goldfish is an all timer
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Very under rated
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First two albums are bangers, third one is decent.
And Clint Boon did this too, so I’m definitely a fan:
Yeah, still a fan after all these years. Far more likely to put on one of their albums than any of their contemporaries (Some Friendly the possible exception).
TUNE!
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Bought that on 12" single from Mike Lloyd Megastore back in the early 90’s. Got home and the vinyl inside the sleeve was the Theme from Fame by Irene Cara. Was so miffed at the time!
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Always enjoyed this one of theirs, mostly because the outro reminded me of Golden Brown. Love me a bit of harpsichord.
Lived above one of Clint Boon’s regular DJ spots (think he owns the place actually) and he always played Inspiral Carpets.
My mate wore his to school and got it confiscated by the deputy rector.
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Got asked to cover mine up at a bowling alley. Thought it was unreasonable at the time.
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