09 Mar 02 ·Lenoir: totally ok. The guy behind the scene was Kurt Raskle and I never ever heard again about him...could anyone tell me what became of him? The Mercy Seat is still one of the most exciting mind blowing tunes I've ever known
Cardiacs have been described as: fairground music; punk rock; prog rock; beautiful; frightening; deadly serious; total euphoria; ugly; sexy; avant-garde; pop genius; totally genuine; disturbing; uplifting... All I can say is this song has one of the maddest guitar solos I have ever heard!
from A little man and a house (ORG Records ALPH 007), available on CD
07 Mar 02 ·n-jeff: God I hate the Cardiacs.
I'm so Wacky.
I'm so Zany.
Wacky! Zany! Wacky! Zany!
Wacky! Wacky! Zany! Zany!
Thats all I have to say. 21 Aug 02 ·dragonsulk: What rubbish, you havent paid attention at all. So much of it is about fear, pain, courage, the humour is gritted teeth in the face of sadness. Bit too subtle for you, eh? Too much like real life? 03 Sep 02 ·n-jeff: I had the misfortune to have to spend an hour paying attention, christ, 20 years ago. That was quite enough, thank you.
Subtle? No.
Real life? Maybe they appraoched the real life feelings of my 4 year old on a chemical high after too much squash and her toys taken away.
Maybe they've evolved. I hope so, but I'll bear a grudge for that gig. 17 Jan 05 ·jack kane: the nme orthodoxy would have it that the cardiacs are somehow putting on an act. far from it - the reason their music is so powerful is that it's dredged up from the fearful chaos that lurks just beneath our feeble psyches. cardiacs haters fear this chaos, and their fear is projected as resentment, leaving them unable to access the music of britain's greatest band.
Guess u can call this a love-song , it manages to be pretty sad and still come through as pretty light-hearted. It doesnt take many hearings before its a classic in your ears. The instrumentalisation (is that even a word lol) is pretty simple ,and yet so very effective.
2:42 of pop perfection ... the chiming guitar sounds like something Roger McGuinn could have come up with. However, the skiffle beat and Liverpool drawl make this sound like a song from the docks, not the sunshine state.
While I am quite fond of the original version written and recorded by Morrissey, I have to admit that I prefer the cover version that the Pretenders recorded. Chrissie Hynde's voice and style are perfectly suited to the task of singing this movingly sad song about life "in a seaside town that they forgot to close down" and the use of slide-guitar is absolutely perfect on this track.
from Boys On The Side - Soundtrack, available on CD
14 Jul 04 ·mattypenny: I'll have to try to find this. The Pretenders also did a cover of Radiohead's Creep - I think its a B-side (can CD singles have B-sides?) which is cracking - I much prefer it to Radiohead's versh. 09 Nov 06 ·FlyingDutchman1971: The Pretenders cover of 'Creep' is included on the 4-CD/1-DVD box set "Pirate Radio". I couldn't agree more, mattypenny, it is better than the original...
