Biography
Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by guitarist and primary songwriter Tim Smith and his brother, bassist Jim Smith, in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One of Britain's leading cult rock bands, their sound folds in genres including art rock, jazz, psychedelia and metal, which was topped by Tim Smith's anarchic vocals and hard-to-decipher lyrics. He was noted for his complex and innovative compositional style; Cardiacs have been credited with fusing circus, baroque pop and medieval music with progressive rock and post-punk. The band's theatrical performance style has often incorporated off-putting costumes and make-up with on-stage confrontations. Their sound and image has sometimes made them unpopular with the press, but they have amassed a devoted following and inspired many rock groups, including Blur. Following several DIY cassette tape releases and personnel changes, Cardiacs settled on a six-piece lineup from 1984 to 1989 comprising Tim, Jim and saxophonist Sarah Smith, percussionist Tim Quy, drummer Dominic Luckman and keyboardist William D. Drake. They created their own indie label, the Alphabet Business Concern, and found mainstream exposure with the single "Is This the Life" from their debut album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (1988), which was followed by On Land and in the Sea in 1989. With the addition of guitarist Christian Hayes and the departures of Sarah Smith, Quy, and Drake, Cardiacs slimmed to a four-piece and displayed a harder edged, metal-leaning sound by 1992's Heaven Born and Ever Bright which was retained for their subsequent albums. During this time, the spin-off group the Sea Nymphs comprising Tim, Sarah and Drake recorded an album of the same name. Previously having been members of the progressive pop band Ad Nauseam, guitarist and keyboardist Jon Poole joined Cardiacs in 1991, followed by drummer Bob Leith in 1993, replacing Hayes and Luckman respectively. The quartet released the a
Bio from Wikipedia
Discography
Records they worked on — most-collected first.
Credited work
28 releases · 7 albums · active 1981–2025
- Performance · 24
- Other credits · 13
- Production · 1
- Engineering · 1
Studios: Apollo 8 · Sally Birthday House Studios · The Slaughterhouse · Royal Air Force Northolt
Frequent collaborators
- Caballero Reynaldo
- Napalm Death