Image ripped from Tina McClelland
The year was 2003.
Always to be remembered as "the year I finally discovered CARDIACS".
What on Earth was it that kept me from this thoroughly twisted & implausibly talented band for so many years?
For one, a whole lot of shitty timing - I guess.
But a better explanation may lie in the fact that this band just simply NEVER HAS and still
does not GET the recognition, exposure or respect they have deserved for all of their many years;
especially here in the good ol' US of A. (Unenlightened Scrubs of America)
Normally, I would begin this feature with "my take" on the band or some annoying anecdote.
In this case, I am inclined to attempt a description of what they 'sound like'.
Well as it turns out, this too presents quite a bit of a problem.
Many have tried, and at least one of them has reasonably succeeded:
"As for describing Cardiacs to all you out there who've never heard them... well. Cardiacs mean so many different things to different people because there's so much in them; one Cardiacs track can contain enough ideas for most other band's careers. I've heard them compared to every band under the sun that's vaguely rock based but you couldn't say they sound just like any single one... right now, I'm reminded of some of the more experimental bits of Beatles, but Fiery Gun Hand is a pure driving unrelenting punk tornado... with a burst of Zappa out of nowhere... Production is bitingly sharp and cutting, fleshed with the layers and layers of detail that is part of Cardiacs' intensity. Their manic side, which many casual listeners think is some kind of joke, is nothing less than an extension of Tim Smith's remarkable nervous energy and is completely for real... the flip side, the other extreme, lies in the bursts of almost painful emotion, the big spiralling progressions that lift the listener higher and higher - "
Unfortunately, there was no author credited for this
dead-on-the-money passage; however it was extracted from:
- The Review of Cardiacs - 'Sing To God (Parts 1 & 2)'
from Organ (Issue 47)
And was found HERE
Here's what, let's do another:
"Toytown meets Eraserhead meets Devo in a dark alley to do some illegal trading in underground Benny Hill archive footage might give you an idea (or not!) of the kind of music they have always made - seriously weird, wonky, wobbly, bendy, twisty-and-shouty, aggravating stuff, like difficult and disturbed 6-year-olds tripping on acid and destroying the playground with delight and delirium. Time-signatures? What are they, then? From 16 beats in a bar to 5 beats in a bar without missing a single note, to 7 to 25 to - oh Christ knows how many, I've given up counting - and yet all the stop-start seizures are so perfectly and accurately synched-in it's almost military, almost scientific, at the very least psychic. The songs sound so simple, and yet are so intricate that you can hear the same song for years and never notice a detail. And yet for all the anthemic chanted choruses, the oblique cut-up and upside-down lyrics, the barking-mad antics and the bizarre time-signatures, there is in every song something very special that their thousands upon thousands of unbelievably fanatically devoted fans recognise - a great deal of soul. It's not gimmicky, or pseudo-odd, it's really just the way Cardiacs set out their genuinely warped world-view. "
...again, no author credited.
Do these people not realize the monumental task they have taken on?!
Give yourselves some credit!
this last came from mandiapple.com
...where you can read plenty more.
So as we have learned, the sound of Cardiacs is nearly impossible to
accurately pin down, yet the energy and creativity behind it is undeniable.
Indeed, Cardiacs often seem quite playful and frivolous on the surface,
while underneath rumbles a deadly serious demeanor and wryness
- a rare and lethal combination to be sure.
Here is one last description, from a certain Bad Mood Guy:
One of the most original bands ever. The only way I can think of comparing them would be to say if you mix older Genesis+Gentle Giant+Oingo Boingo+Sex Pistols+Mr. Bungle+Split Enz, throw in weird scary carnival music, ska, early 20th century war anthems, contemporary classical style waltzes, add some Midnight Oil-ish-type obnoxious vocals & acoustic guitar & that might barely come close to summing it up. And it doesn't sound patched together like they were doing for the sake of doing it. It's actually congruous & flows. Most people I've played them for seem to have a prob' with the vocalist, although he's definitely part of their sound & you get used to it after awhile. They even made me appreciate saxophones (I F*CKIN' HATE saxophones)!
So now, I leave the rest up to you.
Don't wait another minute.
We all need Enlightenment.
For No Frames Navigators:
Onward to
Cardiacs Discography
CARDIACS Main Page
For the Rest of Tangento's Pages:
