Cardinals

On 13 November 2026, The Bodega Nottingham welcomes Cardinals, a five-piece from near Cork, Ireland. The project first took shape around brothers Euan and Finn Mannings and their cousin Dara, later joined by schoolmates Aaron and Oskar. Starting from lean, early post-punk ideas, the band has pushed into a broader indie rock palette that folds in shoegaze haze, strands of Irish folk, hints of goth, rough-cut Britpop and brief detours nodding to hip-hop.

At the core of their sound sits the accordion, not as ornament but as a lead voice that gives the arrangements a distinctive grain and a way of moving that cuts across the guitars. The rhythm section keeps things direct and physical, while the guitars shift between glassy layers and denser walls, leaving room for melodies that carry a quiet melancholy without dropping the intensity. Live, that mix turns into a set built on tension and release, sharp dynamics and close interplay, staying true to their roots while avoiding a single, fixed register.