Quietus 2

Quietus 2 was a post-punk band formed in London, Ontario, Canada. Active between 1980 and 1986, the band’s line up varied over the years, but the core duo of Christopher James (guitar, bass, vocals) and Raj (synthesizer and drum machine) remained constant.

Quietus 2's earliest recordings were in the minimal synth mode of the early Human League, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Tubeway Army. The band’s first release was True Life Blue Print (Cassette-only, 1981). It included cover versions of the League’s “Being Boiled” and Dalek I Love You’s “Freedom Fighters.” Employing only a two-oscillator Moog Prodigy synthesizer and a snare drum, these recordings were primitive by contemporary standards, but won a local newspaper competition for most promising new act, and caught the attention of Frank Gates Management, a local talent agency. Gates pushed the band in a more pop direction, insisting they appear wearing only white in public, and hiring additional musicians to fill out the sound. Live dates were announced, supporting various local acts, but James and Raj refused to appear. The management contract was terminated.

The band’s second release, The Human Condition (Cassette-only, 1984), was a marked step forward, both musically and professionally. While it included an electro-clash reworking of Question Mark & The Mysterians’ classic, “96 Tears,” the tape served to showcase the burgeoning song writing talents of James and Raj, ranging from the jangly guitar pop of “Light in August” to the brooding synth epic, “Visible Means of Support.” The tape received regular air play on Canadian college radio, and the band were reported to be close to signing a deal with Mannequin Records, whose roster included fellow synth pop pioneers, Ceramic Hello, and popular post punk act, Kinetic Ideals. The deal collapsed, however, when their former manager threatened legal action, claiming a fifty per cent share in all royalties accruing to the band.

Going into seclusion, Quietus 2 recorded its final album in a disused radar installation located in a remote region of Northern Ontario. Entitled Relics of a Terpsichorean August, the album saw the band’s former pop leanings give way to a more aggressive and paranoid sensibility. Discordant metallic drones and crunching guitars reflect an air of fatalism that comes to the full in the penultimate track, “Quietus 2,” an elegiac tone poem on the theme of reincarnation. While rough mixes have circulated privately in the intervening years, the master tapes for the album were lost when the installation was dismantled in late 1986.