Review Summary: Therapy? experiment into territories unknown with interesting results
Following up a huge album for many bands is one of the hardest things to do in their lifespan. Many bands persevere under the mainstream for years until that perfect moment catapults them into the grateful hands of the adoring public. Once there they have to tread water furiously to keep their head above the surface, lest they slip back under the waves into the underground and the forgotten others. The music business is tough at best and music fans can be a fickle bunch, spend too long away and they will forget you, change your signature sound and some will turn their nose up give you a verbal pounding and banish you from their music collection forever.
Therapy? Found themselves at this fulcrum in 1995, they had just exploded onto the mainstream with the release of the hugely successful 1994 album
Troublegum, with its catchy hooks and teen angst it was the epitamy of the early 90’s rock sound. Britrock was still massive at this period, The Wildhearts had just reached number 6 in the charts with
PHUQ and Terrorvision were in-between their two huge albums of
How to Make Friends and Influence People and
Regular Urban Survivors. Now was the time to ride the coat tails of britrock and reach for the stars!
Therapy? Have never been ones for pandering to the popular opinion and over their career they have constantly evolved their sound whilst retaining the punk rock elements from the
Troublegum days. But when
Infernal Love came out even the most ardent fan of the trio raised an eyebrow at the direction they had ventured. Gone were the 3 minute pop songs and the huge riffs and in place were ballads, cello’s, horn sections and strange synthesised tie-ins between the songs, it doesn’t take a genius to suspect that drugs may have been involved. The band fully admits that this period of their career was fuelled by alcohol and excess and, they experimented not just recreationally but also with their music. That’s not to say the tunes aren’t here, opener ‘Epilepsy’ charges on at relentless speed with Cairns bellowing the lines “I’ve got a problem, this Infernal Love” over a repetitive rhythm, the song almost careering out of control before the bass line hits and slows the pace momentarily, the guitars then retain the incentive and the tune crashes to a halt. Most fans will be aware of the first single ‘Stories’ with its catchy bouncy riff under a horn section which is pleasing enough. It’s what followed that had fans scratching their heads.
The trio of ‘A Moment of Clarity’, ‘Jude the Obscene’ and ‘Bowels of Love’ see the band delve into territory unknown. ‘A Moment of Clarity’ is a 6 minute new-romantic style ballad that showcases Andy Cairns dark and unflinching lyrics over a sporadic riff which all in all creates a sinister sounding song. ‘Jude the Obscene’ picks up the pace a bit but doesn’t stray too far from the soundscape blueprint laid out from the start of the previous song. Cairns humorous lyrics are an obvious highlight on this album, especially on ‘Jude the Obscene’, lines like “The good ones first, so get back in the queue” are cutting and sung with an evident sneer. The most obvious departure for the band is the next track ‘Bowels of Love’, a gentle strum opens the song as Cairns does his perfect Elvis impersonation, the lyrics are again dark and humorous, Cairns lamenting about a love long lost in a bad relationship. The song could almost be a solo piano ballad, the main focus is on the vocals, which are possibly the best Andy Cairns has ever sounded, his voice growing in the song to a huge crescendo.
All this said, the album does have its more punk orientated moment, ‘Loose’ being an obvious highlight and firm live favourite amongst the fans with its sunny disposition and trademark Fyfe drumming. It almost feels out of place on an otherwise dark and depressing album but I firmly stand by the track and feel it gives the middle of the album a much needed lift. Their cover of Husker-Du’s ‘Diane’ became a big song for them and was the first introduction to fans of the future guitar/celloist Martin McCarrick who dominates the track with his beautiful cello work. ’30 seconds’ closes the album as frantically as ‘Epilepsy’ opens it; Cairns suggesting “there is a light at the end of the tunnel” leaves the listener with a glimmer of hope after such a morbid affair.
The band attempted to create a kind of cinematic soundscape on this release with the electronic interludes linking the songs to each other. Sometimes it works, especially on the long outro/intro between ‘Me Vs You’ and ‘Loose’, other times it seems pointless and an overblown experiment, the 1 minute intro into ‘A Moment of Clarity’ being a prime example. Love it or hate it, this album provoked reaction from the rock media and fans at the time and to this day it stands up amongst Therapy’s? work as some of the finest things the band has ever done.
