SUMMER ALBUM ROUNDUP : A New Weave From Manchester Lads : *** INSPIRAL CARPETS “The Beast Inside” <i> Mute/Elektra</i>

The growth of--and beyond--the Manchester sound continues. And surprise: It’s the band that started as the most conventional ‘60s-rehash of the lot that’s taken the innovative lead. Not that the Carpets have forsaken their roots, such as they are. The quintet’s second full album bears plenty of beat-heavy ecstasy, as well as sounds o’ the ‘60s (notably Clint Boon’s swirling organ).

But there’s a certain will to explore here that’s often missing from even the most bracing recordings of Happy Mondays, Charlatans U.K. et al. Most encouraging and productive is the Carpets’ willingness to back off from the beat. The album’s most interesting excursions may well be the least danceable: the gently anthemic “Sleep Well Tonight” and “Niagara,” a percussionless drone that could almost be an outtake from Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma.”

Even on the more standard Manchesterish efforts the band gives itself room to experiment with instrumental colorations (the bell-like sounds on the title track, for example) and refuses to chain itself to electro-beats or sampled riffs like many of its peers. Docked half a star for the 13 1/2-minute “Further Away”-- another failed Doors imitation?

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).