Cardinals crave closeness on ‘If I Could Make You Care’
They’re one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Ireland’s fruitful indie-rock landscape.
Photo: Emilyn Cardona
Bending the boundary between post-punk, shoegaze and Irish trad folk music, Cardinals’ 80s-influenced sound is one of the most exciting to emerge from Éire’s fruitful indie-rock landscape. On their latest single If I Could Make You Care, the Cork six-piece captivate yet again with their eclectic blend of contemporary punk-inflected noise and atmospheric trad folk; all the while continuing to lean heavily into Ireland’s age-old tradition of storytelling.
Telling tales of love, loss and failure, Euan Manning’s (vocals, guitar) lyrics are as straightforward, open, and organic as you’d expect from the song’s title (which they admittedly stole from Frank Sinatra’s I Could Make You Care): “If I could make you care / Run my fingers through your hair / Tell you how it feels / I wouldn’t dare / Just because I clean the cross / And lost / Doesn’t mean it wasn’t there / I loved you like I did / When I was just a kid / You can have your love affair.”
With its reserved beginnings, Manning’s low hum of a voice lilting alongside the slight swing of the guitar and accordion, it’s a song that sounds as though it’s been plucked right out of an Irish pub during last orders. Everyone’s a little hazy, thinking of past loves and losses, and just about ready to call it a night as the music breathes fresh life into everyone who is experiencing the whole spectrum of emotions that the song represents. There’s this sense that Cardinals’ music very much lives in the place that it was written.
Yet, remaining true to their commitment to evade comfort zones, the band’s arrangement brings drama and scale to these simple origins. Heavier rock drums and guitars move the track forward into unexplored territory before the song explodes into a frenzy of squalling and tempestuous guitar melodies, overtaking Manning’s vocals not only with a sense of chaos, but also with warmth and vulnerability.
This friction between juxtaposing soundscapes is where Cardinals find their sweet spot and prove yet again that their sound has a lasting permanence that, like the tales of old, is not likely to ever be forgotten.
If I Could Make You Care is out now and will be featured on Cardinals’ self-titled debut EP, due June 7th via So Young Records.