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Termites

Termites (the)

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termites

The Termites – Raucous 4 Track E.P.

Raucous Records RAUC008
Every Time– Rockin’ All Night / Home Sweet Home–Long Time Now

The Termites

The Termites were a Psychobilly band from Scotland. They formed in the second half of the eighties. In 1987, they appeared on the compilation album Gypsy Girl with the excellent Devil Call. The following year, they released their first EP on Raucous Records. The band was then Ewin Murray on drums, Scott “Bally” Ballantine on guitar, Kenny Mitchell on vocals and Gerry Doyle on electric bass. The Psychobilly they play is very aggressive and fast, with distorted guitar in the wake of the early Coffin Nails, the Krewmen and sometimes Mitchell’s voice sounds a bit like a wild and demented version of Pip (Guana Batz). The whole thing is rather pleasant and well done, albeit not very original.It could be a tad repetitive on a long-play, but the EP format suits them well.

The Radioactive Kid

V/A – Psycho Tendencies

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Psycho Tendencies - Raucous
Psycho Tendencies – Raucous
Raucous
The Griswalds – Nighthawk / Spellbound – Last Breath / Full Moon Freaks – Surfboard Song / Frantic Flintstones – Hot Head Baby / Termites – Let Me In / Grovelhog – Times Gotta Change / Long Tall Texans – 900 Miles / Full Moon Freaks – Swamp Rockin’ Baby / Go-Katz – Real Gone Demented Hillbilly Kat / Sugarpuff Demons – Weedin’ / Griswalds – Psycho Tendencies / Termites – I Can’t Wait / Shakin’ Bones – Deviltown USA / Frantic Flintstones – Alley Cat King / Go-Katz – Nightmare / Griswalds – Robbie Robot / Sgt Fury – Cold Cold Sunday / Radium Cats – Haunted By Your Love / Cosmic Voodoo – Old Man In The Woods / Frantic Flintstones – Let’s Go Somewhere

This compilation is a good snapshot of the Psychobilly scene in the second half of the 80’s. The original vinyl was the first long player released on Raucous, a label that has made a long way since. It covers a variety of styles and proves if needed that this music isn’t that easy to pigeonhole. It ranges from the up-tempo skiffle/rockabilly of the Long Tall Texans to the punkish sound of the Grovelhogs. In between you find excellent bands like the Frantic Flintstones, the Go-Katz (with an excellent psycho-hillbilly number), the Griswalds (Robbie Robot sounds like a psychobilly version of Devo!) and Spellbound. Less essential are Full Moon Freaks, Shakin’ Bones and Cosmic Voodoo.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis