The 1980 Listening Post - The Carpettes - Fight Amongst Yourselves

 

Reviewed by Chris Roberts Released: 1980 The Carpettes Fight Amongst Yourselves Genre: Post Punk/Power Pop Rating: 3.125 out of 5 I bet if I’d heard Fight Amongst Yourselves when I was sixteen, I’d have loved The Carpettes post-punk power pop sound. I was a big fan of The Smithereens first two albums, and just discovering The Replacements’ catalog. On this collection, the Carpettes sometimes sound like both those bands, but with a brighter radio pop sheen than either of them. Today, I would bet this album probably has more to offer fans of KISS than fans of The Replacements. Fight Amongst Yourselves leads with the one-two punches of the bratty “Nothing Ever Changes” and the pouty “Since You Went Away.” Bam! Bam! Both songs strike fast and with “good” pop technique. The rest of Fight Amongst Yourselves is pretty much the same, but competent. The title track is decent, and there’s two reggae songs—the better one is “The Last Lone Ranger.” But overall, there’s no impact—more a workout routine rather than a serious attack. The Carpettes can get in the ring, but they are too lightweight and lack a killer’s instinct. All the best post punk uses guided missiles to hit specific targets—think about The Carpettes’ heavyweight contemporaries: The Clash, Elvis Costello and The Jam. Their songwriting is so loaded with concrete details, that half the time I have no idea what those blokes are rallying against. But I totally get that those blokes are really pissed off, because when we get really pissed off, it’s usually about really specific things, like phony Beatlemania or pissing down rain on a boring Wednesday or those silly things that Alison says. The penultimate track on Fight Amongst Yourselves, “Total Insecurity,” is where The Carpettes finally bear their teeth, albeit the “fake plastic vampire” variety.