MUSIC
Indie band release promises wall-to-wall dance beat
Inspiral Carpets
Revenge of the Goldfish
Mute/Electra Records
••1/2
Every once in a while, one hears
a band that transcends defini
tion ... a band whose CD one
plays for months on end ... a
band about which one testifies to all
one’s friends with the fervor of a snake
handler. Alas, the Inspirai Carpets are
not one of those bands. The Inspiral
Carpets have been done before.
Granted, even though they’re just
one of those indie-dance bands from
Manchester, they’re not all that bad,
and sometimes one catches oneself, well,
dancing to it. But, then again, one catches
oneself singing along to Lionel Ritchie’s
“Truly” every now and then.
For the benefit of those not ac-
Latest chunk of super local band rocks
Superchunk
On the Mouth
Merge
••• 1/2
Even those of you only remotely
cognizant of the music mecca
that has evolved from this
“sleepy southern town” have
heard of Supetchunk. In fact, you’ve
probably read so much about them that
you feel like you might blow a few
superchunks if you see their name again.
Well grab your Dramamine, because
Chapel Hill’s premier quartet have just
released anotherfull-length disc for your
sonic perusal.
On the Mouth is Superchunk’s third
album (fourth if you count their collec
tion of singles), and is the next logical
step for these purveyors of post-punk
pop perfection. Their first album was a
promising if medium-fi collection of
aggressive, sloppy, and fun tunes. Last
year’s No Pocky For Kitty showed a tre
mendous amount of progress, with no
table advances in both songwriting and
tightness, while producer Steve Albini’s
ear for “Volume! Volume! Volume!”
provided both clarity and kick. Unfor
tunately, both albums suffered from a
lack of depth, with songs running the
gamut from “uptempo distorto-pop" to
“midtempo distorto-pop.”
The best feature of On The Mouth is
that it transcends the one-dimension
ality which plagued their earlier efforts.
To be sure, all the staples are there, the
singing/yelling, Mac and Jim’s duelling
distortion pedals, and hardcore beats
ratings
•—forget It
•• —watt for a bargaii bio bay
••• —tap® it from a friend
•••• boy It
•••• hf two copies
album
SUMMER BURKES
quainted with the Manchester dance
scene, as well as those blindly accepting
of any band from said area, the Inspiral
Carpets are a guitar band with swingy
and/or driving dance beats and lots of
keyboards. Specifically, the vocalist
sounds alternately like a deadpan Blur
or Ned’s Atomic Dustbin clone and a
warbly, melodramatic 'sos teen idol.
The rhythm section (although some
what repetitive) is tight and empha
sized in the production. The guitars are
nothing special, and the keyboards (usu
ally quite effective in most Manchester
bands) often drown out everything that
may be worthwhile, especially when
they play exactly in unison with the
guitars, which is often. Lots of the songs
could easily be accompaniment for the
climax of any late ’Bos teenage movie,
like where a guy wins a bike race or a girl
album
GRANT TENNILLE
all abound. As for the songs, the gang
can perform a riffectomy with their eyes
closed by now, as evidenced on tracks
like “Precision Auto” and “For Ten
sion.” However, acoustic guitars and
the occasional slow number pop up
here and there, and the somewhat lazy
vibes which permeates a few tracks make
for a more diverse, and therefore more
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Superchunk tells the time by the pendulum in Lara’s hair
goes to the mall and finds the perfect
prom dress.
Oh, and the lyrics are crap. They
speak for themselves:
—'Take a look inside/Tell me what
you see/There’s someone there/That
shouldn’t be” (“Saviour”).
—"1 t’s his m ind play ing games/Guilt
is a terrorist/Holds his mind as a hos
tage” (“Smoking Her Clothes”).
-—”The sky is red/The sea is blue/
God made the distance/Between me
and you” (“Here Comes The Flood”).
I could go on. Bleccchh.
To be fair, a few songs are actually
quite good. The single, “Two Worlds
Collide,” has a nice hook and great
vocal harmonies. “Irresistible Force”
sounds kind of like U2’s “Desire" some
times but has neato guitars and tribal
drums and he sings through a distorter.
And “Rain Song” starts off with a folksy
vocal/electric guitar duo thingy and
segues into something like a Ride song,
but (naturally) nowhere near as good.
The lyrics are still crap.
If you have $8 to spare, are an An-
interesting album.
Guitarist Jim Wilbur described the
album as “very punk.” This pertains not
only to some of the songs, but also the
production as well. This is the album’s
one drawback, and in this reviewer’s
eyes, a pretty important one. Although
not as muddy as the first, Mouth features
a surprisingly flaccid sound of distant
vocals and tame drums, far from the
power they display live or on their last
record. If one gets beyond that weak
ness, however, On The Mouth offers a
solid 45 minutes of rockin’ tunes, which
more often are worth your time.
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Who says Izod tobaggans are out?
glophile wildly obsessed with certain
bands solely because of their national
ity and aren’t doing anything Saturday
night, the Inspiral Carpets are playing
GOOD LUCK TO ALL RUNOFF CANDIDATES
SPB— Jim Copland & Jen Lloyd
Sr. Class—Joe/Nanci & Newton/Hahn
and Student Congress runoff candidates
Congratulations to Eric Montross for 121 votes
GO VOTE TUESDAY!!!
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