It is hard to say which of the many subcategories of the growing punk rock genre Cadillac Blindside’s music belongs. The music made by the Minneapolis quartet is often too intense to be pop, to pop to be hardcore and too catchy to be indie. There is no doubt emotion is one of the driving forces behind Cadillac Blindside’s songwriting. But despite current trends toward MTV-friendly, emo-core music, Cadillac Blindside surpasses the droves of sound-a-likes by combining dark, bitter, poetic lyrics with moody instrumentation. As one critic said, “They can sound cheerful and benign or gut wrenching and somber, depending on which emotion you let them manipulate.”Cadillac Blindside’s ability to expose and arouse a spectrum of emotions and rock genres proves the artistry and intelligence of their songwriting. Lyrically, they take to heart concerns of social insanity, isolation and frustration - illustrating these situations with hints of sarcasm, melancholic metaphors and stunningly ironic observations.
Musically, the band intersects several rock genres and demonstrates its range by winding the listener up with a hard driving pop anthem and then spinning them down with a gentle, flowing rock ballad. It is their diverse sound and unique ability to capture and hold the attention of diverse audiences that have allowed Cadillac Blindside to play with such a variety of bands. Cadillac Blindside has shared cramped, sweaty basements, suburban rental halls and swanky, large venues with acts like Less Than Jake, The Weakerthans, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dillinger Four, Dashboard Confessional, Hot Rod Circuit, Thursday and Alkaline Trio.
Cadillac Blindside’s debut album “Read the Book, See the Movie” was released in August of 2000 on Soda Jerk Records. The record quickly received the approval of critics, fans and other record labels. And while touring with The Impossibles that summer, Cadillac Blindside gained the attention of Fueled by Ramen Records as well. In May of 2001, “The Allegory of Death and Fame” EP was released on FBR. The rockers’second release was hailed by fans and critics who said, “sounds like a great band working on an opus” and “the beginning of something significant.” After touring North America in support of the EP for seven months in 2001, Cadillac Blindside returned to Minneapolis and disappeared.
Rendered speechless, Cadillac Blindside has been deeply submerged in therapy for the past 166 days. Resurfacing, they reveal in a new long-playing album out in May 2002 how “These Liquid Lungs” have kept them alive and breathing. Musically questioning sanity, confessions to numerous counts of arson and dedication to the destruction of “con-art” tells us Cadillac Blindside is back throwing caution to the wind. They’ve drained those liquid lungs with intentions to forewarn us that life itself is just a consequence of poor death perception.
