Review by: Norrie Sills
My first memory of ever hearing Terminus was on a mix tape a friend of mine made which for some partially forgotten reason he had cut out kidnap letter style the words “Solidarity tampon tape” on the front of the homemade cassette, (if I remember right it was a dig at what he perceived as ultra feminist types at the local unemployed workers centre which didn’t really exist as he perceived them to.) Them were the days. The first song he put on this tape was a song called “Hey Little girl” by Terminus. It was a song that immediately made me interested in this band as the tune was immediately catchy and almost like a folky, childish nursery rhyme. The lyrics were extremely bleak to the point that I immediately started laughing at the utter darkness and despondency of it all. I later got a loan of the LP “Going nowhere fast” from another friend and loved it. This was at a time (90s early half) when if you wanted political punk that wasn’t massively influenced by Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror etc then you went to Words of Warning records. They released another LP “Back Amongst the Blind” which I never owned but have heard since, which was essentially more of the same type stuff. This CD is a re-release of Boss Tuneage’s collection of the bands singles from Words Of Warning era which was originally released on CD in 2003 by Boss Tuneage. Black and white skull on the cover sidled by syndicalist flags. Guitar orientated anarcho rock with distinctive English vocals. More accomplished and original than many of their peers, missed by many, but dug by those in the ken. I always imagined them as naively trying to influence the metallers as well as the punks in their immediate vicinity, there is guitar solos but it never gets wanky. Lyrics are dark but hopeful. Vocals are unique and wail at times but are always passionate and sincere. “In another time” is the catchiest number here. The song “We’re Dreaming” I always thought was in response to their label mates COWBOY KILLERS song “Your Dreaming” which was on an LP around the same time, poking holes in our sacred anarcho philosophy. Did Terminus reply in song? Other stand out tracks for me are “What Do You Want From Me” which gets an award for being the only anarcho punk song I have heard referring to the “spectacle” – V for Vendettaesque lyrics, ace. “Terror is the best of guards” also stands out. There is a bonus track of the band doing The Specials’ “Do Nothing” which feels like the band trying to get over that they are not all doom and gloom, it’s unnecessary and the only time they fail.