CARPETTES
Fair Play To 'Em (Waveform Records)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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This is one of those rare cases where a band gets back together and is as good, if not even better than before. These guys put out some great stuff in the late '70s, having formed in 1977 and broken up in '81. If you can find it, there's a good "Best Of" collection on Cherry Red that includes tunes like "Radio Wunderbar" and "Frustration Paradise." Overground also released a cool CD of radio sessions called "The Early Years" recently as well. A few years ago they got back together to play some one-off gigs, and then did this recording which was released on a small Japanese label. I was really blown away by how good this is. Like their original stuff from the '70s, it's punky, catchy riffs based stuff, but their sound is even more amped up and doesn't suffer at all from any producer trying to tart them up (as on some of their last recordings before the breakup). I just can't get enough of songs like "Is Everybody Happy" and "It Doesn't Matter." I love their amped-up cover of the Mosquitos' "That Was Then, This Is Now," a song that was also recorded - rather badly I might add - by the reformed Monkees in the '80s. Well worth checking out!

[Pick this up at catalog.songsearch.us.]

© 2003 - Alan Wright