CARDIAC ARREST: THE OBVIOUS IDENTITY

The CARDIACS actually started out in 1977 and experimented with names like Filth but changed their name to CARDIAC ARREST for their second concert and managed to release this rare cassette only release in 1980 before discovering that the band name was already taken. After toying with other names like The Alphabet and The Obvious Identity, they finally decided on the name they are better known as.

This is as lo-fi and straight from the artist as it gets. They only made 1000 cassettes and they were only sold at concerts. The quality is pretty bad as you can imagine but even from the very beginning the CARDIACS already had a developed fusion of their art punk and prog rock. This first album is raw and unpolished with more emphasis on the punk side of the equation without a lot of synth and no sax but there is absolutely no doubt who this is.

Tim Smith's (under the guise of Philip Pilf here) vocals are just as zany and proudly displaying his Estuary English. It begins with many strong tracks complete with odd time signatures and sudden unexpected pauses but the end of the album tends to sound closer to standard punk but there are signs of their signature zolo pronk there as well foreshadowing the more refined albums that would soon be created. This album is much better than I would have expected and well worth checking out. 3.5 rounded up