With their psychedelic noise rock and mind-expanding gigs, London-based band Terminal Cheesecake never achieved wide popularity, but they did obtain massive cult status. After eight eventful years,
in 1993 the band split, relaunching again in 2013 with Gnod’s Neil Francis replacing
original vocalist Boniface. Wages of the Imagination provides insight into the worlds of veterans Russel Smith (guitar/noise) and drummer John Jobbagy. The latter works
as a gravedigger, whilst Smith tinkers with bikes in the French countryside,
under the watchful eye of his mother.
Filmmaker Dries
Meddens uses vignettes to construct his portrait. Excerpts from (Skype) interviews,
Smith washing up, a practice session, a cluttered living room, all book-ended by
quotes from Aldous Huxley and Jean-Luc Godard. Much however remains unsaid as Terminal
Cheesecake’s music is a physical experience that is impossible to put into
words. After years of frustrating silence, the band once more becomes a release
for Smith and Jobbagy’s indomitable imaginations.
EarWORM, screens together with De koning van de Nederlandstalige rock & roll.