The English rock band Cardiacs have recorded material for five studio albums under the leadership of the band's primary songwriter, frontman and producer Tim Smith, [1] along with several EPs, singles and rarities compilations. [2] Tim formed Cardiacs, initially known as Cardiac Arrest, with his brother Jim as a raw, avant-punk band in 1977. [1] Their first release was the single "A Bus for a Bus on the Bus", or the Cardiac Arrest E.P. , in 1979, [2] [3] [4] which they followed with the full-length cassette albums The Obvious Identity and Toy World in 1980 and 1981, [5] [6] the latter being the first release under the name Cardiacs. [7] The band’s own label, The Alphabet Business Concern, launched in 1984, [7] the year the band's third cassette-only album The Seaside released. [8] [9]
Contents
Following the band's DIY tape releases, their 1987 EP Big Ship began Cardiacs' recorded legacy in ernest. [10] The five song mini-album included the song "Tarred and Feathered" co-written with Bill Drake, [11] [12] whose video aired on The Tube on 17 April 1987 and became known for its eccentricity. [9] [13] [14] The band's early work culminated in the 1988 release of A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window , Cardiacs' first "proper" studio album following the band's mini and demo albums. Three songs on A Little Man and a House appeared in more primitive forms on the band’s earlier releases, including the single "Is This the Life", [1] which was played on Radio 1 and peaked at No 80, [15] acting as an entry point into the band for listeners and becoming the best-known Cardiacs song. [16] To consolidate the success of "Is This the Life", Cardiacs released their follow-up single "Susannah's Still Alive" in 1988, a version of Dave Davies' and the Kinks' hit from 1967. [9] [17] Their follow-up album, 1989's On Land and in the Sea , featured compositions with more moving pieces and shifting tempos, including "The Duck and Roger the Horse" and the eight and a half minute long closing track "The Everso Closely Guarded Line", co-written by William D. Drake. [18] [19] [2]
Tim Smith, the band's singer, guitarist and chief songwriter, embedded complex chord progressions and time signature changes into his work, which was performed by up to seven band members by the 1990 video Maresnest . [20] By Cardiacs' 1992 album Heaven Bornand Ever Bright, the band displayed a harder edged, metal-leaning sound which they retained for their two subsequent albums Sing to God (1996) and Guns (1999). [20] Sing to God features the Jon Poole-penned compositions "Bell Stinks", "Bell Clinks" and "Angleworm Angel" from the repertoire of the live thrash band Panixsphere. [21] [15] Bob Leith also collaborated on Sing to God, contibuting lyrics to the songs "Eat It Up Worms Hero", "Dirty Boy" and "Nurses Whispering Verses". [22] The band's 2002 Greatest Hits album saw the release of "Faster than Snakes with a Ball and a Chain", a track which was originally intended for Guns. [3] In 2003, Cardiacs played three concerts at the Garage in London performing songs from their early years of 1977 to 1983, [23] with the material released as the two-volume live album The Special Garage Concerts in 2005. [10]
Cardiacs re-emerged in late 2007 with the Org Records single "Ditzy Scene", co-written by Smith and Kavus Torabi who wrote the song's words, to promote the proposed double album LSD . [8] [2] In June 2008, Smith suffered a heart attack that led to being semi-paralysed from dystonia, and Cardiacs went on indefinite hiatus. [2] Through Smith had recorded most of LSD, the songs remain unreleased. [8] [3] After Smith died in 2020, surviving members of Cardiacs and the band’s label Alphabet Business Concern shared the previously unreleased song "Vermin Mangle" on the day of Smith's funeral. [3] [24] A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window was reissued as a boxset in 2023, with three additional discs featuring radio and studio sessions and a 1987 live show. [25] A Big Bookand a Band and Whole World Window, a visual biography of the band, was published in 2025 containing a vinyl 7" record of the previously unreleased track "Aukamakic/Dead Mouse" from the Cardiac Arrest E.P. sessions, as well as "Faster than Snakes with a Ball and a Chain". [26] [3]
