From The ‘Irish Nirvana’ To ‘Never Apologise Never Explain’,Via The Depths Of Hell.
‘Babyteeth’
(1991,Wiiija)
Topping the UK indie-charts,their first mini-album dubbed the ‘irish Nirvana’.Influenced by Big Black and Killing Joke,this was decidely uneasy listening.
‘Pleasure Death’
(1992,Wiiija)
The album that got the majors listening,with Andy Cairns finding his feet as a song-writer.’Potatoe Junkie’s lyric ‘James Joyce is fucking my sister’ went down wonderfully well in Ireland.
‘Nurse’
(1992,A&M)
Driven by the seminal ‘Teethgrinder’,the bands major label debut was a dark and intense brew of paranoid riffage,shy of hooks but riddled with passionate punk fire.
‘Troublegum’
(1994,A&M)
On which Therapy? hit their stride magnificently.Fully formed belligerent and masterful,it featured the stunning singles ‘Screamager’,’Trigger Inside’ and ‘Nowhere’.
‘Infernal Love’
(1995,A&M)
Unrelentingly bleak and disturbed,shunning ‘Troublegum”s pop hooks in favour of heart-break,paranoia,string sections and experimental effects.Drugs may have been involved.
‘Semi-Detrached’
(1998,A&M)
Blocked from release by the bands US label and recored amid internal band strife - this was Therapy? at a low ebb both mentally and musically.’Church Of Noise is still a classic,mind.
‘Suicide Pact - You First’
(1999,Ark 21)
A return musically to the harsh noise of their early days,this was a huge ‘fuck you’ to doubters;a blast of aggression,attitude and brooding in equeal parts ugly and beautiful.
‘Shameless’
(2001.Ark 21)
More tuneful and rock’n’ roll then their two previous offerings,’Shameless’ was also the point where Andy Cairn’s mood lifted from despair to optimisim at last.
‘High Anxiety’
(2003,Spitfire)
A new drummer(Neil Cooper),a more biting lyrical incisiveness and Therapy? mark three were back it seemed.This time with dark cynicism and more than a little style and swagger.
‘Never Apologise Never Explain’
(2004,Spitfire)
And the fightback continues.Here is the bitterness and the brutality again.Dark as night.Intense as hell,Therapy? are here to make you uncomfortable again.
Andy gave a very good interview to Kerrang back in October but my scanner is broke so i thought i’d type up Kerrangs brief overview of each T? album that appeared at the end of the interview.
So do you agree/disagree with Kerrang on each album?
I never thought of Shameless as T?’s most optimistic album there is a lot of dark humour on it though.
Posted on Wed, 22 December 2004 at 20:20
