THERAPY who formed in 1989, play Rock/Pop/Punk/Metal. After several attempts to find the right one, founders Andy Cairns (vocals/guitar) and Michael McKeegan (bass) have finally found the right drummer in Neil Cooper.
The group’s brand new album “Crooked Timber” follows previous releases which include “Babyteeth” and “One Cure Fits All”.
In ‘93, the group performed “Come and Die” on the soundtrack of the film “Judgment Night”.
“Crooked Timber” listeners should expect a rough, rock hybrid sound, with powerful rock or metal riffs and muffled pop voices, mixed with electro ambient elements.
The odd “The Head That Tried to Strangle Itself” which opens the album, is staccato, with sharp drumming, livened up with stonier and industrial tones. “Enjoy the Struggle” with saturated, powerful and repetitive riffs, brings a melody to the chorus and a solo surfing on smoothness. With “Clown Galore”, we dive into a happy pop dance although more rock/industrial than anything else. Then comes “Exiles”, in which the bass reigns as a queen on this melodic piece, almost ballad-like.
The eponymous title “Crooked Timber”, with its humming bass, its catchy riffs on snappy drums, sounds rocky but is blessed with a beautiful, melodic and increasingly powerful line. “I Told You I Was Ill” brings in heavy metal riffs again, however, these slide on a piece that first sounds like it’s going to go in every possible direction, borderline grunge, which bamboozles slightly! “Somnambulist” is in the same vein, despite some good powerful riffs.
Then comes the slightly more up tempo “Blacken The Page” which merges into Punk, a style with which THERAPY seems pretty comfortable. The instrumental track “Magic Mountain” has a heavy intro, which slides on the melody and is punctuated, in a subtle way, with drums followed by guitars - a long piece which flows along nicely and stretches happily melodiously on a psychedelic backdrop - excellent!!!
The heavy “Bad Excuse for Daylight”, with its repetitive riffs and its sharp bass closes the album.
Your first attempt at getting into this album may not be the only one… those who are musically inquisitive will listen to it a few times before actually getting it. For those who are already fans of “hybrid” music, THERAPY will be just what the doctor ordered!
