Cardia

Buying a ticket in advance for Cardia’s gig at the Northampton Soundhaus seemed the wise thing to do, especially considering a large proportion of Northampton made the regular journey to the recent Carling Weekend, and no doubt a few must have witnessed Rival Schools. However being handed ticket _#0002 _the afternoon before the gig was not the best sign of the shape of things to come. Obviously few in Northampton are aware of who Cardia are. Fronted by Rival School’s guitarist Ian Love, tonight Cardia are playing only their tenth live gig. Formed before Ian joined Rival Schools, the band are in the UK having played a showcase gig in London hoping to secure a UK record deal.

Not only did ticket buyer _#0001 _decide to turn up but also a fair number of people choosing to pay on the door, even by usual standards however the Soundhaus is disappointingly empty. Not content with Rival Schools being his other band, (quite a boast) *Ian Love *also must be in the running for owning the largest array of FX foot pedals in rock, easily humiliating the size of the Soundhaus stage. With such little known about Cardia no one is really sure what to expect, a safe bet being some form of inferior Rival Schools clone. How wrong can you be?

Assuming the role of Lead vocals and guitar Cardia demonstrate to what extent Ian Love is being held back both vocally and musically in Rival Schools. Making use of every guitar effect on offer, Cardia *create some of the most stunning atmospheric guitar noise possible. Showing experimental directions in places absent are hook driven four-minute pop songs with emo friendly rhythms that were in overkill during the *Carling Weekend. With no sign of set lists or songs being introduced audience communication is kept to a minimum with Love politely thanking people for attending. While not groundbreaking Cardia explore avenues too often left untouched within the emo rock genre while still maintaining a constant of being held together by a distinct rock edge and line up. For the moment at least Cardia’s largely unknown status is allowing a lucky few to witness the band in some of the most intimate venues on offer and on the evidence this evenings gig any further opportunities to do so should be taken without a second thought.