CARDIACS
Guns (Alphabet Business Concern)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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Somehow the Cardiacs have made a long career out of being 'obscure'. They sold a few records, opened for Blur, have a great web-site (cardiacs.com), and are on their eleventh album, yet after hearing great things about them through a friend of mine in England, I spent five years looking for them. Being a California resident, I was finally lucky enough to get ahold of the "Sampler" cd. It's sad that a band as incredibly talented as the Cardiacs have to linger in obscurity while the Backstreet Boys hog the charts. Globally. To the average person, this group specializes in 'math-rock'. Herky, jerky, trebly, stop-start rhythms, odd-time frames that leap out of nowhere, exasperated vocals, and sea-chanty back-ups that would make the Toy Dolls stop writing Agnes Has Anal Lice and take notice. An album that, at first, will go way over your head. The key to the Cardiacs is how great the songs really are. Stripped of the 5/4 time interludes, and wacko arrangements, songs like "Sleep All Eyes Open" are brutally fantastic. Beautiful in their attention to detail. Like the world's biggest relief map. Up close.

© 2000 - Jason Thornberry