''Big Ship'' is the second

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP) by the English band

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (lead guitar and vocals) and his brother Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. The band's sound fused circus, baroque pop and medieval mu ...

, released in January 1987 by the Alphabet Business Concern.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 254 It is an album-sized vinyl record played at the speed of a single (45rpm) and was issued with a lyric insert. It was the first Cardiacs release to exclusively feature the so-called classic 1980s line-up of the band (

Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians *T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter *Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs *Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and produ ...

on lead vocals and guitar, Jim Smith on bass guitar and backing vocals,

William D. Drake William Derek Drake (born 7 February 1962) is an English musician, keyboardist, pianist, composer and singer-songwriter. He is best known as a former member of the cult English rock band Cardiacs, whom he played with for nine years between 1983 ...

on keyboards and backing vocals, Sarah Smith on saxophones and backing vocals, Tim Quy on percussion and Dominic Luckman on drums). The anthemic title track has become a key Cardiacs song, played at nearly every concert and appearing on most of their live albums. "Tarred and Feathered" and "Burn Your House Brown" were also played by the band into the 1990s and 2000s.

Trivia

The song "Tarred and Feathered" incorporates, as its final lyric segment, the third verse of the hymn "O God, who metest in thine hand" by Richard Frederick Littledale.

Critical reception

In ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'',

Mick Mercer Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its mus ...

reviewed ''Big Ship'' in skeptical tones. While praising the "impressively restrained operation" of "

Stoneage Dinosaurs "Stoneage Dinosaurs" is a song by English rock band Cardiacs from their EP '' Big Ship'' (1987). The song was written by frontman Tim Smith and produced by Smith alongside Graham Simmonds. Musically, the song is a melancholy track with violin ...

", he also noted that "the title track sounds like those ancient monsters

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

, trapped in some horrendous storm. Memories of

Gruppo Sportivo Gruppo Sportivo are a Dutch pop band from The Hague, formed in 1976, who enjoyed a measure of international success in the late 1970s and 1980s. They had hit songs with "Hey Girl", "Beep Beep Love", " Tokyo (I'm On My Way)", "Disco Really Made I ...

even come sneaking through, but The Cardiacs hold their own ridiculous heads high, only wreaking their vocals, the heavy keyboards and thumping bass refusing to crumble. Unfortunately "Tarred and Feathered" sounds like spotty kids running round a piano, while the dustbin drums of "Burn Your House Down" reminds me only of dreamy Saturday afternoons when the ''

Play Away ''Play Away'' is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series '' Play School'', it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.Alist ...

'' band would do their thing." Mercer also commented that "with Cardiacs everything is accidental, especially good taste. Arrest these peasants before they get another chance." The mini-album was given a similarly lukewarm review by Julian Henry in ''Underground''. In his view the album didn't "live up to (the band's) visual appearance", although he went on to call it "clever" and "humorous in a jolly ''titter-titter'' way".

Availability and reissuing

''Big Ship'' has been reissued from the Alphabet Business Concern label and is available on C

All of the tracks from the mini-album were reissued on the ''

Songs for Ships and Irons ''Songs for Ships and Irons'' is a 1991 collection of non-album Single (music), singles and B-sides by Cardiacs. It combines the whole of the ''Big Ship (Cardiacs), Big Ship'' extended play, the whole of the "There's Too Many Irons In The Fire" ...

'' compilation (originally released in 1991 and reissued on CD in 1995).

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Smith unless otherwise indicated.

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Big Ship'' EP liner notes. Cardiacs *

– lead vocals, electric guitar * Jim Smith –

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

, vocals *Sarah Smith – saxophones, clarinets, vocals *

– electric and acoustic keyboards, vocals *Dominic Luckman – drums, vocals *Tim Quy –

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, percussion Production *Tim Smith – production *Graham Simmonds – production,

audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aesthetic, ...

*Mark Cawthra –

sound engineering An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

References

{{Authority control Cardiacs albums 1987 EPs