Cardinals

Formed in a fishing village near Cork, Ireland, Cardinals initially coalesced around brothers Euan and Finn Mannings and their cousin Dara, later joined by schoolmates Aaron and Oskar to become a quintet. Cardinals began from a fairly straightforward post‑punk base rooted in their teenage years, then gradually broadened its vocabulary toward a melancholic indie rock in which shoegaze, Irish folk, gothic inflections, rough‑edged Britpop and touches of hip‑hop intersect. Within this aesthetic the accordion occupies a central place and gives Cardinals an instantly identifiable colour in the recent Irish guitar scene. The band’s trajectory shows rapid development, from nervy early tracks to a more expansive and nuanced songwriting, without abandoning a direct, upfront energy. Cardinals thus emerges as a product of the independent Irish renewal of the 2020s, with a sound that blends tension, melody and local references without remaining confined to a single register.