Totem Terrors

A much more appetising thought than drawings of bearded men penetrating their partners in a variety of positions – Joy Of Sex are a percussive 3 piece and I am now the very proud owner of 2 EPs. EP (from Spring 2008) starts with ‘December, Month Of Plenty’ a Christmas vision of a land waiting more intently for a Dustcart than Santa’s sleigh. An unusual construction sounding like a singing Christmas card from The Fall. If carol singers came to my door with something like this they’d be more likely to depart with a stipend, it’s something of a fragment but there is no need – in my book – to expand on an idea beyond it’s natural life. It could easily be subtitled Winter Of Discontent or Ode To SAD s as it has a hangdog, wassail quality to it. After the a cappella chorus we get the sort of basic instrumental guitar/drum that would be at home (and as basic as) a Half Man Half Biscuit track. And that’s fine – it doesn’t require more. It manages to have a vague menace as well as an oblique humour (December here is a wasteland of beatings, strikes, and cold lonely death from starvation – but manages not to be a bit depressing). Possibly the perfect introduction to a band as it makes you wonder what the Hell the rest of their songs are like. Sometimes you know a band are “my kind of people” and this is so with Joy Of Sex, I’ll be playing this at Christmas much to my partners disgust. Half Man, Half Brandy Snap. ‘A Briefing’ is a litany of someone’s failings but it could be the singers rather than anyone else’s. The chant “You’re Full Of Numbers, I’m Full Of Letters” could be my theme and should be yours (and I want a t-shirt). ‘Red Rocket’ is more menacing with a glorious guitar line vibrating through it and shows what heights can be achieved with minimal musical effort. The marshal beat seems to be the harbinger of a sex war with the Red Rocket the weapon of choice. Dissatisfaction is this songs’ ground zero – romance is a placebo that is clearly failing all clinical tests. Just brilliant and just over 2 minutes. Whether you are old enough to have listened to Peel in the early 80s or simply feel he was a bench mark for music appreciation you should and WILL love Joy Of Sex. As would he, and I don’t often risk saying that. - [sic] Magazine

Totem Terrors have that quality that sets a small percentage of bands apart from the rest: lovability. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is, because it’s much more simple to enjoy their buzzy nursery rhymes for what they are: lovely, angular pop. - Joe Sparrow / ANBAD