Cardiacs are a band founded in 1977 from Kingston upon Thames that is the very definition of a cult band. They play a distinctive style of experimental rock often called “Pronk”- a portmanteau word of progressive and punk (which isn’t an entirely accurate description). They’re noted for their compositional complexity and their lyrics, which are…well, they’re hard to find the meaning in, to say the least (which is probably intentional) but they are rather well written. In the past, they got a lot of dirt thrown at them by critics- notably, NME had blacklisted them for the longest time(

The Arresting Sound of Cardiacs

—
Hoodedutilitarian

This is part of a roundtable on The Best Band No One Has Ever Heard Of. The index to the roundtable is here. ___________ Cardiacs are a British band from Surbiton.

)but they’ve been reevaluated since then by music critics. In a twist of tragic irony (the type not to be laughed at), in 2008 frontman Tim Smith had a cardiac arrest. He survived, but he spent the rest of his life recovering until his passing in July 2020, in effect ending the band.