''Big Ship'' is an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) or

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

by the English band

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One ...

, 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 on lead vocals and guitar, Jim Smith on bass guitar and backing vocals, William D. Drake on keyboards and backing vocals, Sarah Smith on saxophones and backing vocals,

Tim Quy Timothy Graham Quy ( ; 14 August 19612 February 2023) was a British musician, best known as the percussionist for the rock band Cardiacs from 1981 to 1990. Initially the band's sound engineer, Quy first gigged as reserve bass player in 1980 and j ...

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. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'',

Mick Mercer Mick Mercer (born Michael Mercer, 19 July 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth and punk scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the Gothic rock scene that emerged fro ...

reviewed ''Big Ship'' in skeptical tones. While praising the "impressively restrained operation" of " Stoneage Dinosaurs", 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 sold more than List of best-selling si ...

, trapped in some horrendous storm. Memories of Gruppo Sportivo 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.Alis ...

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

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Big Ship'' EP liner notes. Locations * Recorded at Raven Studios; except "Plane Plane Against the Grain" recorded at Soft Option Studios Cardiacs *

–

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 mari ...

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

, curious percussives * Tim Smith – electric guitar, main voice * Jim Smith –

electric bass The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale leng ...

, voice *Sarah Smith – saxophones, clarinets, voice * William D. Drake – electric and acoustic keyboards, voice *Dominic Luckman – drum, voice Technical *Tim Smith – production, mixing *Graham Simmonds – production, mixing *Nigel Gilroy –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

at Raven Studios *Roger Tebbutt – engineer at Soft Option Studios Artwork *Cardiacs – compiling *Reg Ganz – front cover lettering *Tony Stringer – front cover photograph *Mike Tate – final artwork photography

Notes

References

{{Authority control Cardiacs albums 1987 EPs