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.
"Shattering the garage rock form with its immensity, “Touch” was a roughly hewn
boulder when it was first released in 1992. Cleaned up – but hardly polished –
for reissue treatment courtesy of the consistently discerning Last Visible Dog
label, the music has retained its strident tone for a new set of listeners to
enjoy. Clambering alongside what seems like an incestuous web of underground New
Zealand out-rock groups in the 1990’s, The Terminals certainly didn’t get the
recognition they deserved then. This should change immediately, as “Touch” is
certainly a classic album and needs to be recognized as such!
"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."
Like a jet engine on the loose, the record takes off instantly. Thirty seconds
into opening track “Basket Case,” after Stephen Cogle has barked ‘there’s a
basket in your kitchen and you like it when it cooks,’ the Velvets-inspired
rhythm section has locked onto their groove, and Mick Elborado’s psychotic synth
gurgle has filled in any remaining empty space: at that exact instant, it
becomes apparent that a wild ride is underway. The sheer energy and dissonance
is maintained throughout the album, only to wane at key points for us to catch
our breaths (“Mr. Clean,” the title track). It’s important to note that the
guitars retain a sense of jangle throughout the album, and aren’t completely
buried in murky fuzz. It’s this ability to combine catchiness with chaos that
sets The Terminals apart from other ‘60s-inspired garage rockers.
“Touch” is a highly essential album, as far as experimental, cacophonous
rock’n’roll goes. If it doesn’t make the top of everyone’s end-of-year lists for
‘best album you missed when it was originally released,’ it will certainly be a
sin. 10/10" -- Bryon Hayes 20 May, 2008
(Foxy Digitalis)
--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