Inspiral Carpets live in London, April ’23 (Adam Hampton-Matthews for Live4ever)
Inspiral Carpets will next play the Coventry Empire later this week.
Inspiral Carpets are touring the UK right now after the release of their career-spanning retrospective collection The Complete Singles last month – described in Live4ever’s review as a ‘fitting tribute’ to the band:
“Keep The Circle Around has a purpose and direction with the Hammond organ, so omnipresent throughout their career, high in the mix where it would stay. Likewise, Butterfly has a driving momentum while the juddering Joe broadened the sound and tempo,” it reads.
Their first album (1990’s Life) built upon the early material with some fine singles, not least the marching rallying cry for the disaffected This Is How It Feels, with its instantly recognisable, innocent keyboard riff and tom-tom percussion.
“The thunderous Move (aligned with the debut if not included on it) and the excellent She Comes In The Fall solidified Inspiral Carpets’ status in the peak of Madchester as a key component of it, but one-off single Biggest Mountain was less euphoric, signposting their next move while evoking the more subtle indie-rock of The Chameleons.”
