Review: Carpet Burns, my life with Inspiral Carpets

If The Stone Roses and The Happy Monday were the Premier League title contenders of the Madchester scene of the late 80s, then The Inspiral Carpets, along with the likes of The Charlatans, were certainly vying for those Europa Cup places. But in Tom Hingley, their frontman, they have a bloke who is certainly near the top of the pile when it comes to compiling his memoirs. This is one of the best of its kind books Ive read in a while and details the Inspirals early days, the excitement surrounding the Madchester explosion, the bands raucous tours, the recording of their three albums, the break-up and subsequent solo careers. Their early days saw a certain Noel Gallagher acting as their roadie (very shy yet immensely piss-taking) and Hingley is very good on the trials and tribulations that must befall all bands trying to make their way in the world. Hes also good on explaining the inspirations behind their various album tracks and, of course, there are anecdotes galore, the best of which feature, invariably, Mark E. Smith

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