CARDIACS

My first review of Cardiacs, perhaps my favorite band. The only band I'm in a discord server for, the only band I've read the entire 180+ page thread on Progressive Ears. Who else even has a thread that big, The Flower Kings? Just goes to show Cardiacs have as many genius musical moments worth discussing in their 6-9 (depending on how you count them) studio albums as some bands with dozens. I'm choosing to start at the end of their discography since this is often seen as the least essential, after the two cassette-only debut and follow-up. But in my opinion Guns is amazing and perhaps my second or third favorite Cardiacs album of all on a good day.

Four years after bandleader Tim Smith's tragic death, and 16 years after his medical problems began rendering him unable to play, remaining bandmembers have began playing shows in England called "Sing to Tim." It's also been heavily hinted, if not confirmed, that they're going to release the last album Tim wrote music for, the unfinished double CD LSD next year. Other than the three songs on the Ditzy Scene single, meant for LSD, Guns is the last studio material they put out. A quarter-century ago, before I was even born. In the time since Tim's death, only one new review was written for this album. Only 3 are from the last 10 years, one of those just barely. This album needs more eyes on it.

Spell With a Shell opens it up for us, a very warbly number with a bouncy synth repeating underneath most of the song. The extra vocals from Sarah and Sharon do some fun enhancements to the verses. Whatever instrument comes in near then end to repeat the melody of the vocals is great too. There's Good Cud comes next, a more jaunty track than the last, and one I've seen likened to the King of the Hill theme song. One thing's for sure, it would cause Hank to "Bwaaahh!" if he were fortunate enough to grace his ears with it.

Wind and Rains Is Cold is probably my favorite song on the album. The quintessential prog story of the track I didn't care for as much upon first listen really coming into its own a few listens later. That can be said for this whole album to be honest, but this song had it the strongest. Sarah Smith getting to sing most of it is just grand. There aren't loud distorted electric guitars going wild here, or anything close to being punkish, just an odd little composition that builds until the end while being endlessly charming and pleasant. Makes me think of being cold in England.

Cry Wet Smile Dry is again louder and faster, like the second track, to alternate away from the more pastoral third. This one has some of the most glam-rock flourishes, particularly those little guitar squeals. The lyrics are all from a weird 1800s book, English As She Is Spoke, meant to be Portuguese-English translations, but was written by someone who was just kinda guessing. Some of the phrases are a bit off-putting in a modern context, so be wary I suppose.

Jitterbug (Junior Is A) starts with a country twang before going to a psychedelic rock sound not dissimilar to the stellar ending track of Tim's Spratley's album, Don't You Ail, Flash Sea To Steam. From what I've read from other fans, some love this track and others think it drags the ending soundscape out too long. I think I'm in the latter camp; I love the song but it could have been a tad shorter.

Sleep All Eyes Open er, opens with a reprise of the warbling from the first song, before changing to a new similarly warbly synth line. Another one with particularly glammy guitar squeals, and also a pretty neat little solo before the clapping section. Come Back Clammy Lammy is a WWI romp through their early 1990s sound. The song even has a melodic connection to Day Is Gone, from 1992's Heaven Born and Ever Bright. My favorite parts of this one are of course the parts where they're singing really fast over the sax.

Clean That Evil Mud Out Your Soul is probably my other favorite song on the album. Hard to choose between this one and Wind And Rains Is Cold. Much like that song, this one sounds like nothing else the band ever made. Honestly is sounds almost like some early Dan Deacon. So fast and frantic and pitch-shifted, ooh I love it. I believe all the lyrics come from an old movie.

After a few songs with something to do with eyes (Cry Wet Smile Dry, Sleep All Eyes Open,), Ain't He Messy Though talks about eyes quite a bit. This includes a direct callback to the former, helping the album feel cohesive and interlinked. This one's also a bit Sprately-sounding.

Signs is one of the most conventional-sounding titles of any Cardiacs song, and this song is also probably the most conventional sounding song on the album. Not that I don't still love it, or that it isn't still creative as all get out; it certainly is. Some of the heaviest moments on the album are here. Oh, they mentioned eyes again too. Great song for sure. Song Of A Dead Pest is another slighter affair to follow up the heavy one. It's pleasant but the only part of the album that hasn't gotten near as many repeat listens from me.

Swinging back to the heavy side of things, the bulk of Will Bleed Amen is a wall of sound that feels straight off of 1995's Sing To God. The song builds to a glorious climax that fades out, seeming to end the album? but it doesn't. Yes, there's a secret, super-90s-style hidden track at the end of the CD, Secrets Like Swans I think it's fittingly called. It fades back into an organ and Tim singing a triumphant anthem about something or other. It doesn't matter what, the music is enough to make you feel things on its own. I hope all the people dressing up like a princess in secret (like swans) are able to come out without fear.

The Dog on the cover is from an image of Belka, a Soviet dog that survived going into space. Despite how happy her faces on the cover are, this album marked a somber occasion. So many of the old reviews wish Tim well, and then there's some from the mid-2000s where they didn't even know that this would be the last one. They were eagerly awaiting what was coming next, and now 20 years later we are waiting again, under a much darker shroud. It's a miracle another album could happen at all. For now, though, this being the last one works. It's genuinely amazing. Rest easy, Tim Smith.

A few (many) years ago, Progarchives used to have a shuffle music player on their homepage, so you could browse through their already thousands of records and reviews while listening to and discovering great bands that would usually have slipped under your radar possibly forever.

On one of those occasions, while I was doing something unimportant at home, a song started playing that definitely DID NOT LIKE ANYTHING I HAD HEARD BEFORE. The chords seemed to jump miles from one to another in each measure, the beats became long and short as if they had a will of their own and towards the end (What an end!!) my ecstasy was apotheotic after listening to 3 minutes of a screeching chorus adorning a powerful alternative rock coda that crowned that masterpiece called "Dirty Boy." It's still on my "Best Songs Ever" list.

I wanted to tell this little anecdote to invite you not to miss this tremendous album, an unmissable gem of the genius of Tim Smith and company.

One of the great geniuses of world progressive rock, not yet recognized as he should, gave us in this album a collection of wonderful songs, a vulgar display of power with all the elements that made Cardiacs one of the trademarks of progressive rock in all its forms.

Together with "Sing to God" and "A little man..." it is part of my sacred trilogy by these Englishmen, a perfect trio of aces to enter the fascinating sound universe of one of the most brilliant minds in world rock, IMHO.

We have it all on this album: the strength and irreverence of Punk brought to the irregular terrain of Prunk thanks to complex rhythms, beats of rigorous mathematics, pompous and bizarre arrangements, sardonic and squozoid lyrics, passages of sublime bombastic beauty and total unpredictability in a everything that ties together all the pieces with a mastery typical of one of the most fascinating bands of all time.

3.5 stars. I believe it was after hearing Steven Wilson going on and on about this band that I finally picked up "Sing To God" and soon found out what all the fuss was about. No I'm not really into their sound. Anything punk related just isn't my thing for the most part. We get these helium vocals along with a lot of energy, and this is very much hit and miss. Many fans refer to this one as their first proper studio album, but it isn't. This is album number three, but the first half decent one, so there's that.

Something about this one doesn't sit well with me. I know that this one and the previous two were all originally basically demos on cassettes, so the sound quality here could certainly be better. But the fact we have four songs from the original not included on later re-issues, plus they had to re-record some of these songs for future re-issues because the master tapes were damaged. So while this is the one where they have found their sound, it will be the next one "A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window" where I am all on board, along with the later "Sing To God".

I have a hard time with the relentless energy and vocals. I need my space.

Would you believe me if I told you that this is a mixture of Voivod, Gentle Giant, Supertramp, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and many more bands and sounds absolutely extraordinary? I would understand that you wouldn't, because this crazy statement seems very difficult to put into practice, with so many ideas and revolutions. And if I add influences from classical music, punk and psychedelic rock to this compendium on top of that? It would already seem impossible. But there is one band that had the ability to make such a wild recapitulation work: Cardiacs. "On Land and in the Sea" doesn't make use of ambition, it makes use of the album. Even with Zappa's superb discography, it is not unreasonable to question the peak of the avant-progressive sub-genre if one brings to the table this masterpiece, which might well be the quintessential avant-progressive were it not for albums as foundational as Hot Rats or The Grand Wazoo were long before. But, even with any album you can think of, none is a tough enough rival to topple this Cardiacs work; an album as fierce as it is vigorous.

It is very difficult to do justice to the theoretical and creative level of this album in a couple of words. The amount of strange things that happen in the course of the album is outlandish. The band sweeps away many of the general tenets of making rock music - such as regular tempo or major/minor tonalities - so that what is left is a hyper-avant-garde barbarism, as if constantly complaining, but complaining at everything; the only thing that is right is their sound. In lyrics and harmony there is a very intelligent irony that has to do with the order of things, and this is where art comes in to make magic (it does exist within musical creation): this album doesn't stop being catchy for a second, there is no intention of pausing. Everything is incredibly complex but enjoyable, the instruments shine everywhere in all their volumes (the guitar strength that Tim Smith achieves is something that science could not explain) and what in theory is impossible to hear can be heard. Even riffs that seem like they would be normal, then get distorted in some way.

It's a tricky task to make a structured and harmonious conjunction out of a showy sonority, especially if you're going to defy dozens of music rules, but these guys don't seem to be afraid of anything. Category is, in Argentinian slang, that which makes the difficult seem easy, and the musicians of Cardiacs get away with 100% of these risky decisions. It's really impressive that the album doesn't falter for a single moment, considering that they vehemently follow the twisted formula of excessive avant-gardism; that area in which so many bands fail because they don't have the necessary hierarchy so that these projects -which in theory sound so beautiful and promising- don't fall apart completely. Many will agree with me that, because of their very rare framework, this is a band you either love or loathe. The juggling they constantly attempt could also be seen as a succession of stubborn reversals, methods that attempt to separate each song into several parts and fail. And I think this is the key moment of the album's reception: these structural elements are the ones that receive the viewer's emotionality. And, as I just said, they either fascinate or repulse you. There is a conscious and rational construction of instrumental vigour that I find marvellous and that was very important for the time, since we should not forget that this album is released in the late 1980s (and that, apart from personal opinions, it competes for being the most complex pop album of the year).

Each track can be thought of as a Lennon-McCartneyan super-pop of many songs in one, so if there is any difficulty that can be complained about the band, it is the sustaining of the longer songs, out of this assembled machine that does so well with the 3 or 4 minute vaudeville to attach the multiple ideas that want to be carried out. Whether it suits the listener's tastes or not, it is undeniable that Cardiacs have come to revolutionise punk-pop, and they have done so within the confines of progressive rock. In my opinion, it is one of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the 80s and of all avant-progressive. Certainly, an album that could never be overlooked.

Not sure how this album ended up on the Progarchives site. But here I am reviewing the double CD release called "Sing to God ". The progressive elements are far and few between. To the contrary, most of the songs are short and agressive, sounding more like the great anti-progressive movement: punk. Short tracks, obnoxious singing, grating production... all I could do is grit my teeth and hope the sonic torture would eventually end. Don't get me wrong, I gave it many a spin on many different occasions, in different moods, waiting for the inner truth and beauty to reveal itself. Alas it remained a snarling gnome. Yes, there are some delightfully unusual chord changes on some of the short-lived instrumental passages. Perhaps these rare instances led people to believe this deserves the progressive moniker. For those wishing to enjoy truly contrarian creative music (the true meaning of progressive) I would recommend listening to bands such as Lost Crowns (with ex-Cardiac member included!), ni and Poil. Or one of the many permutations thereof.

This is a truly unique and fantastic album. Over the last 10 years, since I discovered the album, it has grown to become my favorite progressive album.

The foundation of the genius within the music, is the truly special chord changes and melodies that Tim Smith comes up with. The funny thing is that initially I was thrown off by the tonality! I soon understood that Tim is not just picking weird chords for the reason of being weird. It is rather how he think music should be. There's a huge depth to his compositions. It takes time to get used to Tim Smith's way of picking chords and melodies, but once you get used to it, you will be rewarded.

I would also like to note that Jon Poole also contributed a lot to the compositions on this album.

The music is full of surprises and unexpected turns. When such things are powered by an incredible hi-speed energy, it creates a dangerously pleasing combination for people who demand constant stimuli and changes in their music.

I never listen to the whole album in its entirety, since it's too much to take in. Rather it's ingested in smaller doses. My favorite span of disc 1, is from track 1 to track 5. The highlight of disc 1, "Fiery Gun Hand", makes a much bigger impact when being followed by the three first tracks of the album. "Insect Hoofs on Lassie" is a "coming down" track for me, after the intensity of "Fiery Gun Hand". After "Lassie" I usually need a break though, and after some time all is set for "Dirty Boy" on disc 2.

Each time I play "Dirty Boy", I can not put on any other song afterwards, because there's simply no song that can match it. It always leaves me speechless, if I give it my full attention. Even the best of prog tunes sounds boring, so I need a time buffer of a few hours before listening to anything else. The track is on another level of music. It lifts you higher and higher, and ends up in rock heaven.

Besides the mentioned tracks, there are other great tracks on the album. Really, there are no filler tracks, something which is a standard feature of all Cardiacs albums.

Duke Ellington said that there are two types of music- good music and the other kind. I concur but for myself would go even further and say there are two types of music-music I like and music I don't like. I really like Cardiacs. Why? Their music is incredibly well crafted, extremely melodic, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes a bit silly (humour does belong in music as Frank Zappa would suggest) sometimes quite moving, challenging in the best possible way and most importantly just plain fun. Sing To God is effectively a summation of their music going back at least to their debut A Little Man but cranks things up a notch which is no doubt why many fans rate this as their best album. Even so the album actually starts with the gentle if slightly weird "Eden In The Air". Then they are off-Track 2 "Eat It Up Worm's Hero" is where the shear lunacy begins. Its mash up of styles sudden stops and starts and what for all intents sounds like a bit of Gregorian chants all in the first minute is surely one of those "Marmite" songs which will either leave you grinning with delight or leave you screaming from the room or huddling in the corner a gibbering wreck clutching your precious "Close To The Edge" LP close to your chest for comfort. Yes my friends- welcome to the wonderful world of Cardiacs. Most of the songs are actually quite short and some are even quite poppy such as "Bellyeye" and "Dog Like Sparky" (which for some reason reminds me of Kate Bush mainly because of the female vocals) but with enough twists and turns to get your teeth into."Manhoo" actually remind me a lot of XTC for some reason and is such a joyful and playful track.Then there is the short but exhilerating instrumental "Bellstinks" which recalls Frank Zappa circa his Uncle Meat period. I particularly love the medieval flavoured "Fairy Mary Mag" with its heavenly mellotron choir and some beautifully detailed instrumentation especially at the end which really could have been Uncle Frank .Particularly affecting is the final track on the first album "Wireless" about a girl on her deathbed. The scissors snips in the background are presumably representing the mortal coil being cut off so she can move on and when the snipping finally does end she is lifted off to heaven accompanied by exquisite keyboard instrumental section, This song is so beautiful and deeply moving. The track which gets the most attention is of course the monumental "Dirty Boy". This song about a messianic figure just sounds HUGE -it just builds and builds with massive chords and continually shifting key signature moving ever higher until the song shifts gear at the five minute mark-well my hair just stands in edge. Genius

A Modern Prog Rock masterpiece

More musical mayhem from those crazy Cardiacs. If anything they ramped up the sound and overall intensity make this album initially harder to appreciate.However repeated listens ultimately reveals the shear brilliance of the music.The opening track "Two Bites Of The Cherry" is a great Prog Rocker and fairly conventional for them which still means head spinningly complex with a myriad of tempo changes. "The "Duck and Roger The Horse" (I'm fairly sure that is a naughty pun) is one of those tracks that delights fans and draws disgust from their many detractors.Its rapid-fire cut-n-paste collage of musical themes instrumentation is probably the best example.I can actually understand why many listeners simply cannot cope with this aural madness.I also like music to flow and settle into some kind of groove.Cardiacs simply do not allow you to do that. I find it strangely exhilarating to have what seems like a whole album worth of music whizz past in a space of a few seconds.The music is not true chaos rather than intensely complex which is why repeated listens are required at least by slowcoaches like me to "get it". "Leader Of the Starry Skies"is another great anthemic rocker although still with plenty of key and tempo changes to keep things interesting. "I hold My Love In My Arms" is pure Music Hall but shot through with their usual madness.It actually reminds me of Queen's similarly cod-music hall inspired "Lazy On a Sunday Afternoon" or "Seaside Rendezvous".Just a bit more aggressive and intense. Robert Smith's lyrics are as dense as the music and equally as obscure though not meaningless.He appears to be inspired by the Irish Poet George Darley and even paraphrases him occasionally as in "Mare's Nest".Punk inspired they may be but these musicians were far from lowbrow. The closing track "The Everso Closely Guarded Line" is another epic similar in terms of its sheer grandeur to the previous albums's close "The Whole World Window" and is frankly brilliant and a contender for the best Cardiacs song ever.Another highly complex amalgam of styles -Symphonic Prog,Punk, Medieval,(yes you read that correctly) Music Hall and Music Concrete. An absolute masterpiece from beginning to end.Pure genius.5 stars

Was really looking forward to listening to this, especially after hearing A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window & Songs for Ships and Irons, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

A large part of that may be due to the line-up changes. This is really not bad music, I'm still giving it 4 stars, but for me this does not compare to the completeness and clearer sound of their second album. I'm always very reluctant to listen to double albums, because I find there's either too much filler material, or it's the other extreme with no room to breathe and take a step back. I think for this album it's the latter. I'm sure that if I heard these songs in isolation I'd think they were great, but in the context of this huge album it's all a bit too much.

Perhaps in a few months time when I'm used to this album I'll change my mind and it'll grow on me. But for now, 4 generous stars.