The Terminals
Touch
[Click here for audio sample]
This edition has been remasted by Brian Crook and includes the original bonus
track that appeared on the 1992 CD issue (In and out of my mind) along with a
version of the Victor Dimisch Band song 'Native Waiter', performed by the
Terminals.
"Touch (Raffmond, 1992) is a demonic and cacophonous work, particularly
in the (horrible) vocal parts (Stephen Cogle and Brian Cook) and in the
(dissonant) keyboards parts (Mick Eldorado). Furthermore, the drummer (Peter
Stapleton) has progressed to a living orgy of tribalism in the vein of Maureen
Tucker (Velvet Underground). Basket Case soars like a vintage Jefferson Airplane
anthem, a model referred to also in the exotic suspense of Mr Clean and
reinforced by the martial and operatic Deadly Tango. Suicide has the dejected
tone of gothic punk but a frantic pulse. Something Dark is even more menacing
and desperate, with a guitar-drums workout that evokes the most evanescent
"cosmic" of the Velvet Underground. The tragic peak is In And Out Of My Mind, a
psychodrama set to wavering organ drones, loud guitar staccatos and rollicking
rhythm. Wyoming borders on manic Cramps-ian voodoobilly. Amnesia unleashes an
emphatic and apocalyptic organ-driven dirge a` la Doors. Things get even more
morbid with the tense, nightmarish Middle-Eastern dance of That Thing Upstairs
Is Not My Mother, somewhere in between the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black and
Pere Ubu's Modern Dance. The lenghty threnody Twilight Environment summarizes
their aesthetic in a hypnotic parade of distortion, lazy strumming, and chaotic
drumming."
--piero
scaruffi's Music Review site
"New Zealand has, over time, deservedly garnered a reputation as one of the world’s leading exporters of intelligent pop music. This lively music scene is most known for the pure pop of the likes of the Verlaines and the Chills, but the experimentalism of such bands as Bailter Space and the Dead C has its audience as well. On their 1993 album Touch, the oft-ignored Terminals infuse their pop sense with layers of chaotic noise and bring the disparate styles to a head-on collision that lasts the length of the album. Touch is no perfect amalgam of noise and pop, but rather it’s a rickety, wooden roller coaster of an album—it jostles you throughout, making it a better ride than any slick steel production.
The Terminals have had the fortune of being featured on all of New Zealand’s premier compilations, but those tracks will not prepare you for what you will find on Touch. Most of their anthologized cuts are culled from their Flying Nun debut, Uncoffined. Though a great, jangly college rock record, it suffers from a relative lack of teeth. Touch has no such problems, opening with electronic effects surrounding a guitar that snakes between psychedelic solos and a catchy pop riff. Stephen Cogle’s vocals soon descend into the music, sounding like some bizarre combination of Mark E. Smith and Syd Barrett. It quickly becomes clear that, thanks to that voice and drummer Peter Stapleton’s surreal lyrics in coalition with their music, the Terminals demand your full attention at all times.
Though it opens with two harder songs, Touch certainly has its sedate points. A well-placed guitar sound or odd rhythm, however, will invariably reclaim your attention. After the first sedate period it will be “Amnesia” that completely sells the record. It draws the listener in with loud guitars and a pounding rhythm section before seamlessly turning into one of the record’s catchiest songs. Brian Cook’s eerie “That Thing Upstairs is Not My Mother” comes next, and the record progresses from there to the aptly titled final track–“In and Out of My Mind” features crushing guitar work and an absolutely epic atmosphere that makes for the perfect closer
Touch is a record that is impossible to get to
know. In fact, it spends all of its time preventing you from doing just that,
while simultaneously demanding that you try. The result is an engrossing record
on par with any of New Zealand’s best."
--http://akakakak.com
There is also a fantastic article and interview of the band by Jonathan Dale in issue #47 of Signal to Noise