This song weighs heavy on the heart when you listen to it. Its transportative. So wish I had heard live. They compared to muse and pumpkins.... oh dear they're so naive.
Glad you gave the song a listen! This album was from 1996 but the band goes a lot further back - here's a quick history of them. The band started in the late 70s as Cardiac Arrest, but gained popularity in the early-to-mid 80s as Cardiacs (not "The" Cardiacs). Their two main lineups were a six-piece band with saxophone, keyboards and extra percussion (1980s), and as a quartet with two guitarists (1990s onwards). The singer/frontman/main creative force behind the band was Tim Smith, arguably one of the most creative and interesting musicians of all time. His brother Jim was the bassist, and the two of them were there from beginning to end. Tim never liked to put their music into a category, he always called it pop - maybe psychedelic if you had to name it. The media and the music industry absolutely hated them. Their music was always either completely ignored or was given unfairly negative reviews ("Cardiacs are the sound of both feet in the grave"). A newspaper even ran a smear piece claiming that Tim and his then-wife Sarah (the saxophone player) were brother and sister and were having an incestuous relationship. Sadly, Tim had a heart attack in 2008 which left him paralysed, and Cardiacs never performed again; he died in 2020, effectively ending the band. If you want to hear something that's easier to get into (but still complex and interesting), try the songs Odd Even, Gina Lollobrigida, or Signs (there's a great live performance of Signs on UA-cam). If you want something more rock-y with some punk elements, try Fiery Gun Hand, Jibber and Twitch, Ditzy Scene, or Bell Clinks. And if you want to dive deep into the rabbit hole of creative weirdness, listen to R.E.S., Burn Your House Brown, To Go Off and Things, or Tarred and Feathered. Have fun!
The "incest" story was actually something the band willingly participated in as a publicity stunt, at least at first, and it did get them a Top 50 entry. In any case the only newspaper that really ran with it was the ludicrous "Sport" (which, for Americans, is famous in Britain for two things, i.e soft-porn and preposterous stories e.g "alien baby found in supermarket trolley on the moon" / "`face of Jimmy Knapp appeared in my soup', says union leader")
You can go down a rabbit hole with them - DO IT. A lot of people dont understand what is happening in this song - how the back end is composed - its faaar more than it lets on. EVERSO CLOSELY GUARDED LINE - that is my all time favorite song.
As a long time Cardiacs fan, it makes me happy to see them getting discovered a lot lately. This song is relentless and never lets up and I've always viewed it as a wall of sound. Yep, riding on the crash cymbal was the right thing to do. And the drummer (Bob Leith) is indeed the guy on the bottom, haha! For the cover, their eyes were enlarged, hence the creepiness. As far as the production, yeah it was the 90s - but, it really does sound glorious on vinyl and you can hear the layers better. Never got to see them live, but by all accounts, the room would elevate by the rapturous energy when they played this tune. RIP Tim Smith, The Leader Of The Starry Skies.
I am glad I got to see them live maybe 7 or 8 times - it really was an intense experience, more connected energy than I've had at any other live concert.
Always figured the eyes were enlarged haha looks so cool. This song is such a jolt of explosive angst in the best way possible. The fact it all just builds up to an extended scream at 300% intensity at the end just renders all explanation superfluous. God I love this.
I think its one of the great tragedies of Cardiacs is that other than their brief brush with fame in the 80s with "Is this the life" (A song that while good wasnt really representative of them) it took Tim Smith dying to launch the band into the broader knowledge of the millenials and zoomers. Tim would have been delighted to know a whole new generation of music fans are finally discovering his work. Poor guy had such a lousy decade prior to dying , paralysed and in terrible pain at a time when his musical genius was far from having subsided. Folks, get your heart , prostate (or if your a woman, breasts), blood sugars and other parts regularly checked, strokes, heart attacks and cancer can steal so much from you.
Cardiacs are a pretty important band, influenced Mr Bungle, Napalm Death, Radiohead, Blur etc Tim Smith the singer was a very clever man indeed as was the musicians he worked with. The rabbit hole goes deep with this but once you start to get what they are about it’s hard to turn back.
This one: ua-cam.com/video/tJ_I-c6QUOQ/v-deo.html (might be something to save till you've heard a bit more of their music, though) It's mainly from what I think was their last live show as the bigger band, but also has interludes of "Cardiacs mythology" in it - the story they built around themselves of how they were owned by the dreaded Alphabet Business Concern (which became an actual thing that still exists!) and "guided" by its Consultant.
Great to hear my favourite song by my favourite band getting some new ears on it. The guitar work on the whole album is absolutely sublime, Thankyou for spreading the word of Cardiacs just a little bit further! :)
Cardiacs have been great since their origins. Tim Smith has that punk ethic and self deprecatingly refers to his music as pop. People have refered to Cardiacs as prunk ( prog punk) and Tim has been refered to as the Mozart of punk. His compositions are great, I've heard him channeling Zappa in early Cardiacs. He was awarded an honorary PHD in music. Their music is worth investigating.
So happy to see anyone react to this song! But if you don't know what the band is about, this will give you kind of a weird idea of what they're doing. Please Please Please check out their garage rehearsal video of "Jibber and Twitch". And then you'll get it.
Sing to God was the album that made me discover Cardiacs and made me absolutely obsessed with them! But I remember having the same complaints about the album, some songs felt like they went on too long, like Dirty Boy or Wireless and that the sounds all jumbled up together. So I would just switch from track to track without listening to it all as I was so hyped up to listen to a certain one. Dirty Boy can feel a little too long unless you are really in the mood for it and it becomes the greatest track of all time. As far as the mixing, I ain't an audio engineer and I'm not sure how that stuff works but this is what prompted me to get the FLAC of the album, get myself some very good open headsets and download softwares that allowed me to equalize(?) the audio to my liking. There is so much depth to the sound of this album, hidden melodies and such but I never listen to it unless I am in the mood for it, but when I am, it's the best album to ever exist.
Cardiacs experiment with music scales a lot, in this song it sounds like they are using a Shepard scale, which creates the illusion that pitch is constantly ascending.
I seem to remember someone mentioning modes of limited transposition - a type of scale that has no tonic (or alternatively where every note can be the tonic)
Thanks for lending your lugs to this one. Cardiacs have two basic modes - frenetic insanity and absurd grandeur, this track very much being in the latter camp. Head honcho Tim Smith is sadly no longer with us, but Cardiacs were active from the late 70s right through to the 00s, willfully defying genre conventions the whole time. This one's from their 1996 double album monstrosity "Sing to God". And yeah, the extra creepy guy at the bottom is the drummer. Good guess!
Please keep up the good work and dive into even more Cardiacs bliss. Try "Sleep All Eyes Open," or "Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain." Thank me later
1. When they played this song live, they'd deliberately make fools of themselves by trying to actually hold that long note, instead of letting the loop machines take the strain. (A joke borrowed from Fairport Convention btw) 2. Is it just a metaphor for (male) masturbation or is it really about a religion-inspired ritual murder - the jury remains out 3. In the '90s/'00s, Cardiacs was allied with - and sometimes literally subsumed - SIDI BOU SAID, an all-female math-rock/pop-punk/indie band that I recommend you check out (esp. the entire Bodies album).
It's difficult to know what entry level to pitch Cardiacs to people at. For some, even their more 'mainstream' (and I use that term relatively) tracks are a difficult to get into, while for others, they would not be interesting enough. This one, you have to commit to the ride, then you just float with it. Otherwise you just think 'why are they playing the same three chords and holding the same note for 2 minutes'. For something more punchy and 'out there' try Fiery Gun Hand or Will Bleed Amen. For something more accessible, try Flap Off You Beak or Manhoo. Well done for spotting the drummer and, 25 years later, he's now in my friend's band (not Sterbus mentioned below, another one: ua-cam.com/video/ZWPaVsY37W0/v-deo.html )
This track is insane, the chord structure is bonkers. I just don't think they got it with their button earphones. It's a sonic wall that I find incredibly moving. Over and Out! Nearly 30 years on and still confounding people. Least Blur and Radiohead understood Tim.
It's originally a band from the late seventies or early eighties. Check RES and then let's talk about dynamics or wanting more. Dirty Boy is really made so you can't ask for anything more. Just meditate on that long final note and let the end of all come to you. Actually, any other song would've made a better introduction to them, though. I mean, I can't play my favorite song, this one, in parties, even with some of my closest friends who just see my little toxic subjectivity which just causes them to dislike Cardiacs the more I show them this music.
Musics best kept secret! though personally, this is one of my least favourites from them. I think the "Tales From The Rotten Shed" DVD tracks would be a great intro. I hope to see folk recommending it in the future!
Love Cardiacs. Not my favourite tune from them but ... this song is massive !! Check out ua-cam.com/video/aQl34DuUaYo/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/s31eL8Y_pBM/v-deo.html .
There is a whole lot more to Cardiacs even though this is GREAT song and a fan favourite. For a bit of history on them this video is pretty cool ua-cam.com/video/gFKg09GBFQE/v-deo.html
So glad that Tim Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate before he died. A truly singular musical mind.
Can't listen to this track without breaking up. Miss Tim so much it hurts.
I blubbed today because of Timmy - Signs - :( A truly amazing man. Genius
i can't play cardiacs.. without my wife bursting into tears.
This song weighs heavy on the heart when you listen to it. Its transportative. So wish I had heard live. They compared to muse and pumpkins.... oh dear they're so naive.
Glad you gave the song a listen! This album was from 1996 but the band goes a lot further back - here's a quick history of them.
The band started in the late 70s as Cardiac Arrest, but gained popularity in the early-to-mid 80s as Cardiacs (not "The" Cardiacs). Their two main lineups were a six-piece band with saxophone, keyboards and extra percussion (1980s), and as a quartet with two guitarists (1990s onwards).
The singer/frontman/main creative force behind the band was Tim Smith, arguably one of the most creative and interesting musicians of all time. His brother Jim was the bassist, and the two of them were there from beginning to end. Tim never liked to put their music into a category, he always called it pop - maybe psychedelic if you had to name it.
The media and the music industry absolutely hated them. Their music was always either completely ignored or was given unfairly negative reviews ("Cardiacs are the sound of both feet in the grave"). A newspaper even ran a smear piece claiming that Tim and his then-wife Sarah (the saxophone player) were brother and sister and were having an incestuous relationship.
Sadly, Tim had a heart attack in 2008 which left him paralysed, and Cardiacs never performed again; he died in 2020, effectively ending the band.
If you want to hear something that's easier to get into (but still complex and interesting), try the songs Odd Even, Gina Lollobrigida, or Signs (there's a great live performance of Signs on UA-cam).
If you want something more rock-y with some punk elements, try Fiery Gun Hand, Jibber and Twitch, Ditzy Scene, or Bell Clinks.
And if you want to dive deep into the rabbit hole of creative weirdness, listen to R.E.S., Burn Your House Brown, To Go Off and Things, or Tarred and Feathered. Have fun!
Thanks for the info! Sorry to hear about Tim :(
The "incest" story was actually something the band willingly participated in as a publicity stunt, at least at first, and it did get them a Top 50 entry. In any case the only newspaper that really ran with it was the ludicrous "Sport" (which, for Americans, is famous in Britain for two things, i.e soft-porn and preposterous stories e.g "alien baby found in supermarket trolley on the moon" / "`face of Jimmy Knapp appeared in my soup', says union leader")
You can go down a rabbit hole with them - DO IT. A lot of people dont understand what is happening in this song - how the back end is composed - its faaar more than it lets on. EVERSO CLOSELY GUARDED LINE - that is my all time favorite song.
It happens to be the first Cardiacs song I ever listened to. Then everything changed for me, musically.
As a long time Cardiacs fan, it makes me happy to see them getting discovered a lot lately. This song is relentless and never lets up and I've always viewed it as a wall of sound. Yep, riding on the crash cymbal was the right thing to do. And the drummer (Bob Leith) is indeed the guy on the bottom, haha! For the cover, their eyes were enlarged, hence the creepiness. As far as the production, yeah it was the 90s - but, it really does sound glorious on vinyl and you can hear the layers better. Never got to see them live, but by all accounts, the room would elevate by the rapturous energy when they played this tune. RIP Tim Smith, The Leader Of The Starry Skies.
Definitely a wall of sound! Thanks for watching Jason!
I am glad I got to see them live maybe 7 or 8 times - it really was an intense experience, more connected energy than I've had at any other live concert.
Always figured the eyes were enlarged haha looks so cool. This song is such a jolt of explosive angst in the best way possible. The fact it all just builds up to an extended scream at 300% intensity at the end just renders all explanation superfluous. God I love this.
@@filipberntsson6634 Thanks for watching!
I think its one of the great tragedies of Cardiacs is that other than their brief brush with fame in the 80s with "Is this the life" (A song that while good wasnt really representative of them) it took Tim Smith dying to launch the band into the broader knowledge of the millenials and zoomers. Tim would have been delighted to know a whole new generation of music fans are finally discovering his work. Poor guy had such a lousy decade prior to dying , paralysed and in terrible pain at a time when his musical genius was far from having subsided. Folks, get your heart , prostate (or if your a woman, breasts), blood sugars and other parts regularly checked, strokes, heart attacks and cancer can steal so much from you.
Rick Beato would cry to this fucking beast of a song.
This track is the one thing in the entire universe that can consistently give me the ASMR feeling when I focus on it.
haha interesting
I completely agree
Awesome! I'm always glad to see more people discovering this gem of a band.
:)
My absolute favourite band. *waves to Timmy, Leader of The Starry Skies, wherever you are.
Cardiacs are a pretty important band, influenced Mr Bungle, Napalm Death, Radiohead, Blur etc Tim Smith the singer was a very clever man indeed as was the musicians he worked with. The rabbit hole goes deep with this but once you start to get what they are about it’s hard to turn back.
Not to forget the incredible band Major Parkinson, especially the first two albums.
Even better, once you are in the Tim Smith universe, you appreicate Knifeworld and Oceansize.
Watch the live film all that glitters is a mares nest to see a band of such joyful beauty talent and just glorious rock n roll it'll blow you away.
This one: ua-cam.com/video/tJ_I-c6QUOQ/v-deo.html (might be something to save till you've heard a bit more of their music, though) It's mainly from what I think was their last live show as the bigger band, but also has interludes of "Cardiacs mythology" in it - the story they built around themselves of how they were owned by the dreaded Alphabet Business Concern (which became an actual thing that still exists!) and "guided" by its Consultant.
Thanks Phil!
Best band ever
@@jasonshort1437 Along with XTC and Be Bop Deluxe. They are my triumvirate of greatness.
Great to hear my favourite song by my favourite band getting some new ears on it. The guitar work on the whole album is absolutely sublime, Thankyou for spreading the word of Cardiacs just a little bit further! :)
I've never realised how long this song is, when I listen to it it just flows by
Cardiacs have been great since their origins. Tim Smith has that punk ethic and self deprecatingly refers to his music as pop. People have refered to Cardiacs as prunk ( prog punk) and Tim has been refered to as the Mozart of punk. His compositions are great, I've heard him channeling Zappa in early Cardiacs. He was awarded an honorary PHD in music. Their music is worth investigating.
Thanks for the info!
So happy to see anyone react to this song! But if you don't know what the band is about, this will give you kind of a weird idea of what they're doing. Please Please Please check out their garage rehearsal video of "Jibber and Twitch". And then you'll get it.
Thanks!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, we all sang the long note before the song started at live gigs. Sadly missed, much loved.
Sing to God was the album that made me discover Cardiacs and made me absolutely obsessed with them! But I remember having the same complaints about the album, some songs felt like they went on too long, like Dirty Boy or Wireless and that the sounds all jumbled up together. So I would just switch from track to track without listening to it all as I was so hyped up to listen to a certain one. Dirty Boy can feel a little too long unless you are really in the mood for it and it becomes the greatest track of all time. As far as the mixing, I ain't an audio engineer and I'm not sure how that stuff works but this is what prompted me to get the FLAC of the album, get myself some very good open headsets and download softwares that allowed me to equalize(?) the audio to my liking. There is so much depth to the sound of this album, hidden melodies and such but I never listen to it unless I am in the mood for it, but when I am, it's the best album to ever exist.
Great info! Thanks so much!
RES & TARRED AND FEATHERED video clips ore stunning ......AND LOT´F OF FUN TO WATCH
This was an amazing experience live with the girls singing the "never-ending note".
Cardiacs experiment with music scales a lot, in this song it sounds like they are using a Shepard scale, which creates the illusion that pitch is constantly ascending.
I seem to remember someone mentioning modes of limited transposition - a type of scale that has no tonic (or alternatively where every note can be the tonic)
Thanks for lending your lugs to this one. Cardiacs have two basic modes - frenetic insanity and absurd grandeur, this track very much being in the latter camp.
Head honcho Tim Smith is sadly no longer with us, but Cardiacs were active from the late 70s right through to the 00s, willfully defying genre conventions the whole time. This one's from their 1996 double album monstrosity "Sing to God".
And yeah, the extra creepy guy at the bottom is the drummer. Good guess!
Lol we knew it! Thanks for watching!
"It's tiny Bob Leith! Pretty as a picture!"
@@brentpalmer9800 "Should we beat him?"
With respect, it sounds like you didn't get this song, its a work of genius simple as that.
But that’s ok, it’s a reaction!
THE Cardiacs.... seethes
Please keep up the good work and dive into even more Cardiacs bliss. Try "Sleep All Eyes Open," or "Faster Than Snakes With A Ball And A Chain." Thank me later
Thanks!
1. When they played this song live, they'd deliberately make fools of themselves by trying to actually hold that long note, instead of letting the loop machines take the strain. (A joke borrowed from Fairport Convention btw)
2. Is it just a metaphor for (male) masturbation or is it really about a religion-inspired ritual murder - the jury remains out
3. In the '90s/'00s, Cardiacs was allied with - and sometimes literally subsumed - SIDI BOU SAID, an all-female math-rock/pop-punk/indie band that I recommend you check out (esp. the entire Bodies album).
It's difficult to know what entry level to pitch Cardiacs to people at. For some, even their more 'mainstream' (and I use that term relatively) tracks are a difficult to get into, while for others, they would not be interesting enough. This one, you have to commit to the ride, then you just float with it. Otherwise you just think 'why are they playing the same three chords and holding the same note for 2 minutes'. For something more punchy and 'out there' try Fiery Gun Hand or Will Bleed Amen. For something more accessible, try Flap Off You Beak or Manhoo.
Well done for spotting the drummer and, 25 years later, he's now in my friend's band (not Sterbus mentioned below, another one: ua-cam.com/video/ZWPaVsY37W0/v-deo.html )
Thanks James!
This track is insane, the chord structure is bonkers. I just don't think they got it with their button earphones. It's a sonic wall that I find incredibly moving. Over and Out! Nearly 30 years on and still confounding people. Least Blur and Radiohead understood Tim.
How can you compare Cardiacs to Muse?!
Somewhere between Muse and Smashing Pumpkins? Is that all ya got?
Big fan of ecstatic codas here. It's late and I'm not wordsmithy...articulater, ciao. 👍😘🎶🐚🎸🚀🎉🙏🍹😂
The best!
oh! dear .. muse and smashing pumpkins came years after cardiacs
It's originally a band from the late seventies or early eighties. Check RES and then let's talk about dynamics or wanting more. Dirty Boy is really made so you can't ask for anything more. Just meditate on that long final note and let the end of all come to you. Actually, any other song would've made a better introduction to them, though. I mean, I can't play my favorite song, this one, in parties, even with some of my closest friends who just see my little toxic subjectivity which just causes them to dislike Cardiacs the more I show them this music.
Thanks for sharing Quinceps!
Musics best kept secret! though personally, this is one of my least favourites from them. I think the "Tales From The Rotten Shed" DVD tracks would be a great intro. I hope to see folk recommending it in the future!
Love Cardiacs. Not my favourite tune from them but ... this song is massive !! Check out ua-cam.com/video/aQl34DuUaYo/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/s31eL8Y_pBM/v-deo.html .
Thanks!
There is a whole lot more to Cardiacs even though this is GREAT song and a fan favourite. For a bit of history on them this video is pretty cool ua-cam.com/video/gFKg09GBFQE/v-deo.html
Sound like Muse,when Cardiacs started in 77,so who sounds like who.
Woahhh they started in 77? We had no idea!
Now please react to Bad Company " Dirty Boy" . Thanks
Perhaps the least heard anthem of rock!
With respect.... you didn't get this at all..
Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. Thanks for watching!
Smashing Pumpkins? Muse??
Jesus.