Picture yourself in a boat on a river, or standing watching Cardinals scuffle into the golden masquerade of the MOTH Club stage.
Hailing from their university town of Cork, their heritage can be heard through their shoegaze meets The Pogues sound. The Manning Brothers, Euan (vocals, guitar) and Finn (accordion), have refracted their trad upbringing into an authentically new soundscape. The band have been praised by the likes of BBC Radio 6’s Steve Lamaq and Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten.
Having watched them back in January at their sold out Lexington show, I was intrigued to see how they had developed in the last 9 months. If their first EP was a kind introduction, the new album is a screaming demand to listen. New release, ‘Big Empty Words’, is like if you layered everything that came before into one slashing tune – a prime example of both their growing confidence as a band what is likely to come. This was glaringly obvious from witnessing them again on stage; tight, uninhibited and sparse of conversation.
When Euan did choose to speak, he declared “Free Palestine”. Continuing, he detailed how the MOTH Club green room had a mural of Winston Churchill on the wall. He “just thought it was funny” considering Churchill sent soldiers to their beloved Cork, resulting in large fires across the city. Chruchill then sent those same soldiers to Palestine as part of a colonial gendarmerie. This was then met with the explosion of their new unreleased track ‘The Burning of Cork’.
With their next album to be released via So Young Records in February 2026, we’re excited to see what’s next for the mighty Cardinals.
Words: Alex Comerford
Photos: Steve Gullick, Alex Comerford