New Zealand is a goldmine for diggers with a penchant for hook-laden garagerock, garagepop and?.what? Oh sure, yeah we already knew that. But there?s still some bands you can?t have heard an awful lot by and one of them probably is The Terminals. Not very keen on a life in the spotlights and with four or five hard to come by albums to their name, this band remains one of the country?s finest secrets.

For this record, The Terminals reach out to the most fascinating aspects of dark and brooding rock music. Sixties psychrock, Bad Seeds-like vocal depth, Doors-y end-of-the-world organ trips, but all with a definite knack for good pop music, hooks and melodies. Skip immediately to the title track for instant proof. During it?s best moments, ?Last Days of the Sun? almost elevates with dark energy.

Opening track ?Vertigo? builds up from gentle guitar strums and Steven Cogle?s deep voice before the repetitive organ motive expands and leads the song to soaring heights. A brilliant start which always puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the album. But that?s also where this band excels. They don?t try to overexagerate contrasts and the second song, ?Undertows?, kicks off with the same hypnotising organ drones ?Vertigo? ended with. The rhythm brings to mind one of Clinic?s better tunes, ?Walking with Thee?. Focal point here though is Cogle?s bariton croon, somewhere between red wine Nick Cave and a euphoric Stuart Stapleton.

Another highlight is ?Different Air?, a tenebrous piece shaped with the duality between subtle electric guitar and the on-and-on droning organ. Build ups are a Terminals specialty, they draw you in slowly and before you know it you?re just awestruck by the sheer beauty of the songs. If you haven?t heard of these guys you best check them out right now, they might have just created their masterpiece. 9/10 -- Joris Heemskerk (12 September, 2007)