In fairness, Holt’s return does seem to have spawned a change in direction and a genuine freshness in the music. ‘You’re So Good For Me’ sounds like a band that has re-discovered the vigour of their youth: up-tempo, snare driven garage with the Stanglers-esque, post-punk sound that defined the band in their early recordings. However, there is no reconciling the Inspirals of ‘This is How it Feels’ with the lyrics of ‘You’re So Good For Me’ that essentially say very little, and sound suspiciously like “Aww, it’s great to be married, isn’t it?”.
The b-side, ‘Head for the Sun’, is a remix (or possibly a re-recording) of a song from 1987’s Cow record (an early promo). It seems to have a little more of a message lyrically, and a little more edge, with an almost grunge-y sound, power chords and clanging, overdriven guitars. I actually prefer this song out of the two, which is probably a bad sign. I’d be more excited if ‘You’re So Good For Me’ were just any old song off the album, but if this is the best the new recordings have to offer, I think the latest material won’t quite live up to the legend (does it ever?).
Despite my criticism, it’s still a new Inspiral Carpets song, so a lot of people will get very excited. As I was never such a big fan, I won’t be joining them – and while half of me thinks it’s nice to see some decent guitar music getting released despite the rest of the industry’s dire prognosis for alternative music, the other half thinks that, while the scene is saturated with Noel Gallagher’s new album and re-unions from the Stone Roses and the Inspirals, it’s not really looking like an attractive alternative to mainstream culture for today’s ‘yout’ (as I’m told they call themselves).
Release Date 21/11/2011