A LITTLE MAN AND A HOUSE AND THE WHOLE WORLD WINDOW

No wonder people didn't know what to make of the Cardiacs back in the day. With the whimsical vocals and occasional Samla-esque outbreaks of circus-like music on A Little Man and a House on the one hand, the band seem determined to revive the more comedic and satirical side of the RIO movement a full decade after its peak - and yet, at the same time, in their grasp of melody and their knack for writing gorgeously well-formed little songs, and in their willing acceptance of influences from more recent commercial rock genres (punk, post- punk and indie in their case) the band seem to take on the best of the neo-prog compositional approach without necessarily taking on neo-prog motifs and sounds.

No wonder the confused NME reviewers drew comparisions with Fish-era Marillion at the time, a comparison as ludicrous then as it is today. Quite simply, the Cardiacs seem to me to be one of those bands who really exist in a genre of their own - and A Little Man and a House is a fantastic introduction to them. I for one will be exploring more of their output.