The Cardinal Sin

The Cardinal Sin: Oil And WaterOil And Water (2005)
Grey Flight Records

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: pastepunkpastepunk
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Published on April 15th 2005Featuring ex-members of Cadillac Blindside, the Crush and Songs Of Zarathustra, this Minnesota four-piece is a well-seasoned group of rock musicians, heavily influenced by the classic stripes of Jawbreaker and their modern interpreters the Alkaline Trio and Lawrence Arms. Oil And Water is a six-song.

Featuring ex-members of Cadillac Blindside, the Crush and Songs Of Zarathustra, this Minnesota four-piece is a well-seasoned group of rock musicians, heavily influenced by the classic stripes of Jawbreaker and their modern interpreters the Alkaline Trio and Lawrence Arms. Oil And Water is a six-song EP that sounds inherently familiar to fans of the aforementioned influences, but with its own unique twist.

Lead vocalist James Russell offers a mix of mope and angst throughout this release, sometimes bearing an uncanny resemblance to Matt Skiba in his earlier years. The Alkaline Trio influence truly peaks on the third track, "Woke Up In Pain," which features the readily quotable lyrics "Good times gone dry / needing to hear a voice from a friend / I say I won't drift closer and closer to the deep end / I keep it close, deep in my head / So you don't see that I'm scared." As the darkness dissipates for only a moment, two songs later, fans of the Replacements will enjoy a terrific cover of "Bastards Of Young," and the song's cacophonous ending. The final tune, bearing this EP's title, gives off the impression of a true set closer - mid-paced and sing-a-long friendly, with agonizing lyrics about a relationship, not so surprisingly, taking on the characteristics of "oil and water." At least this band doesn't hide their lyrical subject matter in a haze of incompatible poetry.

The Cardinal Sin have an almost arena-rock feel on Oil And Water with its upfront recording style. Loud guitars and thumpin' drums take to the forefront of each song, with Russell's vocals fighting for similar attention. This element is a refreshing change from a countless number of bands that prop up their lead vocals above everything else, and leave their rhythm section limping behind. Rounding out the EP is some healthy, blood-splattered artwork that fits the Cardinal Sin's aura just fine. As if this hasn't already been made clear in this review, fans of Jawbreaker and old Alkaline Trio should definitely find something to like on Oil And Water.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (April 19, 2005)

the demo is posted on the cardinal sin's purevolume page.
http://www.purevolume.com/thecardinalsin

Fuzzy (April 18, 2005)

Send ME an email or an IM (look at my profile) and I'll send YOU the demo.

Anonymous (April 18, 2005)

this reminds me, does anybody have a copy of the demo they were selling when they were on the road with the lawrence arms? if somebody could send it to me through AIM that would be great. oral pleasure will be given.

AIM: replicationzoom

Anonymous (April 18, 2005)

Good fucking band!, good fucking record! I'm very glad I got off my ass, went to their show and purchased this one. Plus, one of the guys can grow a pretty tight beard. I hear they all have bird names? What's up with that? Maybe the bearded dude's name is Mockingbeard! Ha! I kill me...just like ALF.

syr667 (April 17, 2005)

trent does have a new band...
it's called Bears Oh My...
yay...

Anonymous (April 16, 2005)

over all they soudned like caddy blindside without zac singing, which could be good or bad. i liked hte first album where both sang but the second record i ended up liking the zac songs better. in the aftermath though i prefer cardinal to fuel the fire, which is just as well since they ahve already broken up. trent needs a new band so he can start touring again. anyone else who was into caddy notice he looks like nick d. wolfwood? side note if you know him or myself you know who wrote this...

CorpseOfMyMotivation (April 16, 2005)

Yep. They're calling it a wholphin (or something equally stupid). It's awesome. I want to see a picture.

swingline (April 16, 2005)

they made a whale/dolphin today. wholphin is what they're calling it. i'm dead serious.

CorpseOfMyMotivation (April 15, 2005)

I'm eager to hear Whale|Horse. They're supposed to be making their recorded debut on a Grey Flight comp or something.

Jesse (April 15, 2005)

It just sounds like Cadillac Blindside.

CorpseOfMyMotivation (April 15, 2005)

I just checked these guys out because of some of the comparisons they drew. They're boring as hell.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

paste punk is the shittiest site ever. You and the tool from "emotionalpunk" should start a gay club and fuck each other up the ass. Johnathan you're a fucking tool.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

"does anyone know what Prosperity Wallet are up to? While they may have a terrible name, they were quite good."

Yea I saw them three years ago with Cadillac Blindside and I haven't heard from them since. I liked em too, except that they seemed to drag some of their songs on a little too long

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

does anyone know how many of these songs were on the demo? i got it like 2 years ago when they played detroit with motion city soundtrack around when thier record came out but there are no track names for anything on it.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

while i hate that this seems to be a pattern of just moving from borrowing from the GUK to borrowing from A3, i must admit that this sounds good.

-burning13

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

not a big fan of this guy's voice

Kenjamin (April 15, 2005)

who produced this record? Scott Adams?

Inspection12e (April 15, 2005)

FUCK! We need an edit button for idiots like me. makes*

Inspection12e (April 15, 2005)

This record make my pants tight.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

I'm in love with the drummer for this band.

lou (April 15, 2005)

there is something to be said for sounding more like skiba than skiba himself.

i've had their demo for awhle now (read: since the larry arms tour) they need to get their shit together and record a full length album. ...isn't there a guy named Cardinal Sin?

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

I, too, miss Cadillac Blindside, their last cd was pretty good. Speaking of Grey Flight Records, does anyone know what Prosperity Wallet are up to? While they may have a terrible name, they were quite good.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

previous score was supposed to be THIS (for cadillac).

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

score is for cadillac.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

man, i miss cadillac.

recordings (April 15, 2005)

the crush were not so good. and that album art is ridiculously cliched.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

It's only an ep.. jesus... this band has been lurking around minneapolis for like.. 2 years.. at least, and this is their first release... an ep?!?! sure are slow motherfuckers are they

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

Cadillac Blindside was a fucking rad band. But I'll wait until the full-length before checking these guys out, as I generally don't buy EPs.

-Chinatown

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

this record and their demo are both pretty amazing. makes me miss cadillac blindside a lot. i'm definetly a fan.

maverick (April 15, 2005)

These are the best Alkaline Trio songs recorded since their Asian Man days. It's good to see someone carrying that flag, since Skiba & Co. are in a three-record slump.

-Scott

swingline (April 15, 2005)

for quality music, download "lovefool" by the cardigans.

Kenjamin (April 15, 2005)

one of my fav replacements songs. yessssss!!!

inagreendase (April 15, 2005)

I heard one song from this and I agree with two of the review's points: "arena rock" and "Alkaline Trio." Not quite the, er, amazing combination it looks to be on paper.

They were decent when I saw them open for the Lawrence Arms last year. I'm sure I'll give this a chance when I finally get ahold of it.

Speaking of Grey Flight - anyone have Respira updates? The band hasn't updated their site in a long, long time. I'm worried.

Anonymous (April 15, 2005)

i'm too old for this shit, riggs. first!