Cardiacs:
The Seaside:
Alphabet:
CD/LP/Box set:
Out 30th November:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Imagine Devo attempting to cover the delightful Trumptonshire melodies whilst riding on a rollercoaster in a gale-force wind, dressed as surgeons bearing smeared make-up and you have Cardiacs. No, really.
Formed in the late '70s and fronted by Tim Smith, lauded by Thom Yorke and Faith No More/ Mr Bungle frontman Mike Patton and often derided as a novelty act, Kingston-upon-Thames' Cardiacs appear initially as mad as a barge of lizards until you analyse their music. There are no words to classify what you're about to hear. Vaudeville-on-speed, theatre-thrash, sick pop, deranged indie, whatever. Think again.
Stop-start riffs and rhythms and nonsensical lyrics all add up to be Cardiacs' unrelenting charm. They look like they sound. Google 'em. See? Loons with tunes. And excellent musicians, it must be observed.
The Seaside first appeared in 1984 as a cassette, before finally getting the vinyl and CD treatment in 1990 after the band scored an unlikely indie hit with one of the UK's truly greatest singles of all time, the rifftastic Is This The Life?. Said song appears here in rough demo form but it isn't the only brilliant slice of high-octane wizardry on here. Nurses Whispering Verses and A Wooden Fish On Wheels are terrific as is the album's unforgiving opener Jibber and Twitch, two words that sum up the following fifty minutes or so.
There's something wonderfully contrary and stubbornly pre-modern about Cardiacs. You can't find much, if anything, on Spotify, you can't get this edition on Amazon and this is a celebration of a cassette release, drop-outs, faults, warts and all. In another life, they'd be labelled as 'national treasures'. In this, those in the know will take them to their hearts, covet them as their own and wallow in The Seaside. Super stuff.
The Seaside:
Alphabet:
CD/LP/Box set:
Out 30th November:
★★★★★★★★☆☆
Formed in the late '70s and fronted by Tim Smith, lauded by Thom Yorke and Faith No More/ Mr Bungle frontman Mike Patton and often derided as a novelty act, Kingston-upon-Thames' Cardiacs appear initially as mad as a barge of lizards until you analyse their music. There are no words to classify what you're about to hear. Vaudeville-on-speed, theatre-thrash, sick pop, deranged indie, whatever. Think again.
Stop-start riffs and rhythms and nonsensical lyrics all add up to be Cardiacs' unrelenting charm. They look like they sound. Google 'em. See? Loons with tunes. And excellent musicians, it must be observed.
The Seaside first appeared in 1984 as a cassette, before finally getting the vinyl and CD treatment in 1990 after the band scored an unlikely indie hit with one of the UK's truly greatest singles of all time, the rifftastic Is This The Life?. Said song appears here in rough demo form but it isn't the only brilliant slice of high-octane wizardry on here. Nurses Whispering Verses and A Wooden Fish On Wheels are terrific as is the album's unforgiving opener Jibber and Twitch, two words that sum up the following fifty minutes or so.
There's something wonderfully contrary and stubbornly pre-modern about Cardiacs. You can't find much, if anything, on Spotify, you can't get this edition on Amazon and this is a celebration of a cassette release, drop-outs, faults, warts and all. In another life, they'd be labelled as 'national treasures'. In this, those in the know will take them to their hearts, covet them as their own and wallow in The Seaside. Super stuff.