GUNS

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.