INSPIRAL CARPETS – I WANT YOU (FEATURING MARK E. SMITH) (MUTE)
It must be somewhat galling to have the song of your career hijacked. Even if they won’t admit, this is the story of the Inspiral Carpets. Sure they rubbed shoulders with the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays as part of the Madchester scene but amongst their floppy catalogue there is nothing that exudes the might, power and force of this song. It was born on a good day.
The fresh ingredient added to “I Want You” was Mark E. Smith, if indeed you could describe him as fresh. Certainly the man remains cool as fuck to this very day. And his impact on proceedings is felt immediately on the video mix as he slaps on a trademark cheeky, nonsensical introduction before the band does something strange and new: they rock out.
There is a dense force attached to the method in which “I Want You” bursts out of the gates, it almost feels/sounds industrial in execution. What happened to the playful psychedelic keyboard bars of their usual output? Here it seems was a new drive and passion, a blistering onslaught issued defiantly by the composers.
In many ways collaborating with Smith does the band a disservice because quite frankly it sounds more like a Fall song than an Inspiral Carpets. “I think you should remember whose side you are on”. Ultimately it is the song and the listener that wins, so why worry about logistics. And regardless when the second version of the song pops up Smith-free, the song retains its bulk and might, only losing a large dose of the strange.
Elsewhere “We Can Do Everything” sounds somewhat like Mudhoney fronted by Julian Cope while the fuzzy guitars find themselves eschewed in place of the returning bulky keyboards for “Inside Of You”. This is not a consistent act.
Back to “I Want You” and the other reason to love this single is how it got Mark E. Smith on Top Of The Pops. Most sensible trains of thought would consider this reality impossible but suddenly here he was on primetime TV screens. Some things in life just need to be grizzly and real.
And finally my own personal great moment with this song came after a John Peel tribute gig I was DJing at back in January 2005 when I closed the night to this song and it proved a very popular choice. When it comes to tunes, I know my onions.
Thesaurus moment: burgle.
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