Description

The Carpettes are back were in 2005 with The Carpettes, their brand new and first States-side released album. This is one of those rare cases where a band gets back together and is as good, if not even better than before (Alan Wright, Cosmik Debris). Having started in the now magical year of 1977, The Carpettes all but invented pop-punk, debuting on the Small Wonder Records label with the classic 77 7 How About Me And You. After a couple of albums on Beggars Banquet, the group eventually split up in 1981. Having played some festivals and the occasional gig, The Carpettes released Fair Play To Em (2002), their first album in some 2 decades, on a small Japanese label. Fair Play To Em gained critical acclaim from all corners of the globe and The Carpettes suddenly found themselves with a new lease of life. Fans in droves, new and old, tuned in to the super catchy pop-punk sound that has always been the bands trademark. Make no mistake about it, The Carpettes invented the sound that put Green Day & Co. in the charts. The Carpettes, named so as the band believes it perfectly captures everything they stand for, comprises 13 new self-penned songs. Mick Mercer: Its funny. The Carpettes still have all the bounce and commercial verve they always did during halcyon Punk daze, but you might say that lyrically they are finally coming to terms with matters of age. Matters of dignity. As guitars crunch melodically and the rhythm hums along, George does a light snarl through Dont Throw It All Away. Cheerful buggers. Oh, it all ends on a slightly more defiant note, but really! And youd be wrong to think theyd changed with age, as theyve always had a cynical view. A Yeah, whatever, you bastard-view on life, and thats what still crackles through the new tracks on offer. Thats one of the reasons theyre one of my favourite bands, still. What might strike people as a familiar style, listening to this, wasnt actually something terribly common back then. And The Carpettes did the Punk and Pop thing better than the other UK punk bands because it was all Punk energy. They didnt make the songs lighter or jolly because they were a Punk band suddenly doing a poppy number. And they werent weak shite like the Powerpop rubbish. They should have been seen as a rougher Jam, if anything, Nothing At All is the stark Punky pop theyve always done in a jaunty manner, underpinned with lyrical grit, and if a theme develops on this record its the repetitive nature of the lyrics, concerning disappointments with people, and new guitarist Jimmy Devlin seems to have the right touch. It all grows and glows during Taking It Bad! with a crisp bite, and I Dont Like You! is more standard punk, but done The Carpettes Way, with a sing-along structure that will throw you back to your schooldays, but also with the obligatory instant choppy chorus and frisky guitar break. It sounds like the past, but full of modern flavour, except that most bands half their age dont have this energy on record, which is just bizarre. The Way It is Today also has that throbby angst they do which other bands never quite matched, and its got another fabulous chorus. Stranger still, the drums even sound like The Carpettes used to. Its the nature of the trio, I guess, in that when theres a style it survives. The Carpettes is produced by the band themselves: George Maddison: Bass, vocals Jimmy Devlin: Guitar, vocals Jim Cosgrove: Drums FEATURES 1 Nothing At All 2 Steal Your Thunder 3 I Don’t Like You 4 Heddy 5 Taking It Bad 6 Stop Me 7 Black/White/Wrong/Right? 8 Next To You 9 Waiting For The Dark 10 Always Wrong 11 The Way It Is Today 12 Perfect Girl 13 Don’t Throw It All Away