Guns is the eighth studio album by Cardiacs

Cardiacs

Cardiacs are an English alternative rock/psychedelic pop band formed in 1977 and led by Tim Smith. Noted for their complex, varied and intense compositional style and for their eccentric, theatrical stage shows, they have been hailed as an influence by bands as diverse as Blur, Faith No More and...

, and their last with Jon Poole. It was recorded and mixed at Apollo 8 in London. After a brief period of unavailability, the album was re-pressed in August 2007 and is once again available on the official "Cardiacs website".

Themes

Some of the song lyrics seem to have been written using 'found' text and the cut-up technique

Cut-up technique

The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....

; two known sources are the celebrated Portuguese to English phrasebook English As She Is Spoke

English As She Is Spoke

English as She Is Spoke is the common name of a 19th century book falsely credited to José da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino, which was intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations...

 (providing e.g. "you mistake yourself heavily" in "Sleep All Eyes Open") and the screenplay of the 1955 film The Night of the Hunter

The Night of the Hunter (film)

The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 American thriller film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. The film is based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton...

, providing seemingly all of "Clean That Evil Mud Out Your Soul" including the song's title; its chorus, for example, uses "Merciful heaven only knows what unholy sights and sounds all we innocent babes has made in them dens".

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Smith. Riffs and arrangements by Jon Poole and Tim Smith, and additional lyrics by Bob Leith.

1. "Spell with a Shell" - 3:17
2. "There's good Cud" - 2:17
3. "Wind and Rains is Cold" - 3:20
4. "Cry Wet Smile Dry" - 3:27
5. "Jitterbug (junior is a)" - 7:31
6. "Sleep all eyes open" - 2:58
7. "Come back Clammy Lammy" - 4:07
8. "Clean that evil Mud out your Soul" - 2:25
9. "Ain't he Messy though" - 2:03
10. "Signs
    Signs (Cardiacs song)
    "Signs" is the eleventh single from the progressive punk band, Cardiacs, released in 1999. The song is from the album, Guns, while the other tracks on the single are exclusive to this release...
    
    " - 4:25
11. "Song of a Dead Pest" - 2:37
12. "Will bleed amen" - 7:30

Personnel

• Tim Smith
  Tim Smith (Cardiacs)
  Tim Smith is an English singer-songwriter, composer, poet, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music video director....
  
   - Vocals, Guitar and Keyboard
• Jim Smith - Bass and Vocals
• Jon Poole
  Jon Poole
  Jon Poole is a British multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter best known for his work as guitarist for Cardiacs and as bass player for The Wildhearts .Poole is the frontman and main performer of God Damn Whores, and has also worked with the...
  
  - Guitar, Keyboard and Vocals
• Bob Leith - Drums and Vocals

Additional personnel

• Sarah Smith - Saxophone and Vocals (tracks 1 and 3)
• Joanne Spratley - Vocals (tracks 6 and 7)
• Sharron Saddington - Vocals (tracks 1, 3, 8 and 12)
• Rob Deschamps - Trombone and French Horn