Top 10 Songs Of The Cardiacs

Feature Photo: File: <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The Cardiacs are one of the UK’s most underrated and underappreciated bands, formed in 1977. With their incredibly complicated music, which encompasses a wide variety of styles, and their surreal live shows, they have influenced everybody from Blur to Napalm Death, and not many other bands can say that. Beyond their studio albums, they released a wide range of material, including live albums, compilations, and singles. The band’s activities were halted in 2008 after frontman Tim Smith suffered a heart attack and stroke.

Despite being highly revered by a wide variety of musicians across the rock spectrum, they have also drawn criticism from certain corners of the music press, who think their music is too “out there” to be considered acceptable.

With Smith’s death in 2020, it initially seemed that the Cardiacs were sadly no more. However, the band later returned, completed and released the long-awaited album LSD in 2025, and resumed live performances in 2026. They have left behind a brilliant legacy that will hopefully gain more recognition. Here at Classic Rock, we hope this article will introduce people who may never have heard of this band. So, without further ado, let us tell you the ten best tracks…

# 10 – Signs

We open our top 10 Cardiacs songs list with a single from the band’s fifth album, Guns, released in 1999. It was their last with guitarist Jon Poole. This album is considered the band’s most accessible, and while it is closer to standard alternative rock than much of the group’s other material, that doesn’t mean it is an unchallenging listen by any stretch. This track is a particularly intricate composition, and its choice as a single showed that the band was not quite turning middle of the road just yet.

# 9 – Odd Even

This next track was released as a single from the band’s fourth album, Sing to God, released in 1996. This album was the first with drummer Bob Leith and their second as a four-piece. It was also their first album in four years, with the previous one being 1992’s Heaven Born and Ever Bright. Jon Poole played a bigger role on this record, which is considered one of their most eclectic outputs.

# 8 – Manhoo

This track was released as a single from the aforementioned Sing to God, of which only 1000 copies were produced, making it long out of print. There were original plans to release four singles from the album in honor of every band member, but for unknown reasons, this never happened. With this track, you can see their influence on bands such as Blur as this track does sound like a crazy version of Blur.

# 7 – Susannah’s Still Alive

Up next is a cover by the band of the original by Dave Davies of The Kinks. It appeared on the Kinks tribute album Shangri-La: A Tribute to the Kinks and was released as a single. It is the only cover song that the band has ever done. As expected, it is far from a straightforward cover of the original, sounding much louder and more chaotic. Arguably, it is better than the original because it is a generally more unique piece of music.

# 6 – Is This The Life?

Here we have the band’s third single, taken from the album A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window. This release was the third time that the track had been recorded. Two previous versions appeared on the band’s Toy World and The Seaside albums. It is a notable track in the group’s discography as their only single to enter the main UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at number eighty.

# 5 – There’s Too Many Irons in the Fire

This is the band’s second single, released in 1987. A classic early track from the Cardiacs, it is a crazy mix of progressive rock and post-punk, sounding almost like Wire crossed with King Crimson. The original single release has long been deleted. However, along with the other two tracks on the release, it was re-released on the 1991 compilation album Songs for Ships and Irons.

# 4 – To Go Off and Things

Here we have a classic track that was one of four songs on the twelve-inch single Seaside Treats. In addition to the single itself, a video of it was released, containing three songs that expressed the band’s bizarre visual side. Contained within it was a promo video for this song, which was somewhat reminiscent of British alternative comedy such as Monty Python. In 2013, Napalm Death released a brilliantly amped-up cover of it on their Sugar Daddy split with The Melvins.

# 3 – A Bus for a Bus on the Bus (As Cardiac Arrest)

This is the title track from the band’s debut single, released in 1979 when they were still known as Cardiac Arrest. It was their only ever seven-inch and until the release of the 2005 live album The Special Garage Concerts Volume 2, none of the tracks on it were ever available on any other release. They originally planned to have four tracks on it instead of three, but were prevented from doing so due to the limited seven-inch recording space.

# 2 – The Obvious Identity

This song is the title track from the band’s 1980 debut full-length which was also released under the moniker Cardiac Arrest. Upon its initial release, it was not widely available, merely being a cassette that was only sold at the band’s gigs. The complete original cassette has never been reissued and as a result, is a very rare item within the Cardiacs back catalog. However, many of the tracks are available on several other releases.

# 1 – Big Ship

This anthemic track is a key Cardiacs song and is the title track of their 1987 mini album. Not only was it an essential staple of their live concerts, it is also featured on most of their live albums. The release was the first to exclusively feature what is considered to be the classic line-up of Smith, his brother Jim on bass, keyboardist William D. Drake, saxophonist Sarah Smith, percussionist Tim Quy and drummer Dominic Luckman.