Life

The Inspiral Carpets emerged from Manchester's rave/club scene alongside the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Each of these groups fused a dance groove to 60s-styled pop, the Carpets' brand of psychedelia fashioned by Clint Boon's Vox-styled organ work. Taking inspiration from garage bands and the Doors, he adds a distinctive flourish to the band's grasp of simple, commercial melodies. Life is the unit's first full-length album, following three EPs and a selection drawn from John Peel sessions. It captures their enthusiastic slant on a genre briefly in vogue, and one to which they brought humour and a refreshing eclecticism. Mute.