This is kind of a cheat, but I don’t care.
Therapy? Released two EPs before their debut album Nurse, Babyteeth and Pleasure Death. This album is the US only compilation of those two EPs, so it’s a bit iffy whether this counts as a proper album, but this is my list, and I’ll do what I want. Ok?
Good.
Most people remember Therapy? for Screamager, the band’s attempt to write an Undertones song. And fair play to the band, they’re still going 30 years later because of it, but that’s not what Therapy? were to me.
Screamager is up there with Enter Sandman for biggest disappointment on first hearing a song. I was so excited after their debut, here was MY band, the first band I’d seen live, the first band that I was in on the ground floor. The band I knew before pretty much anyone else had ever heard of, and they were getting big. It was amazing. It was brilliant to see. And then I heard it. This was not the band I’d loved, that had changed my taste in music. It was a sell out pop song and it broke my heart. To be fair to the band, Troublegum is a good album, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for, because before they bothered the pop charts Therapy? were a noise rock band.
Steve Albini was the most obvious influence but there was a grab bag of stuff going on. Jesus Lizard, Mudhoney, Hüsker Dü and some of the noisier 80’s bands are the best touch points, but Andy Cairns is one of those rare song writers who can take his influences and turn them into something that didn’t really sound like anyone else. And certainly didn’t sound like it should have been coming out of Larne, County Antrim!
Even at its noisiest, Therapy?’s music is catchy. Not the pop hooks that would later catapult the band up the charts but hooks nonetheless. You probably couldn’t whistle these songs but you will nod your head, and in places being disappointed you’re not in the middle of a mosh pit while walking down the street.
On top of that, they have a fairly unique style. Fyfe sounds like his drum kit owes him money, he really punishes his kit, but also a really, really good drummer. At this point he also shared the vocal duties with Andy, and I’m always impressed by a singing drummer. Mikey, the bassist or Evil Priest as he’s jokingly known, seems to be one of the nicest people in rock, as well as a surprisingly jazzy player. This rhythm section is the absolute core of this band. They will just build the songs on bass and drums and use the guitar for effect if needed, and they are well able to lead. Andy’s guitar switches between adding noise and textures to the rhythm section and buzzsaw riffs, no ego in the playing and everything in service of the song. As it should be.
The EPs are loaded with samples from films (as was the style at the time) and the first track on Babyteeth, Meat Abstract starts with Leon from Bladerunner calling “Wake up! Time to die! Before the drums kick in.
And from there we’re off. Meat Abstract is a blur of alt rock, wrapped around a clattering snare. Skyward is a moody, grungy track but it’s the one – two of Punishment Kiss and Animal Bones that stamps the band’s identity on the world. The bass led attack and noisy guitar of Punishment Kiss ramps up the tension while Animal Bones may be the most aggressive thing the band has ever done. A white knuckle, teeth bared, feedback drenched assault of a song. I honestly thought I was going to die in the pit back in that crappy Dundalk club when I first saw them.
Good times.
But it’s not all rock bangers, Loser Cop has skronking sax and a free jazz breakdown on it because the band didn’t know that a rock band shouldn’t do that. And while the band would dial down their experimental side, it never truly leaves them, and you’ll still hear unexpected jazz influences on their later albums. Just not as in your face.
Pleasure Death was originally meant to be a 12” but Wijia Records pushed Therapy? into releasing an EP instead (Something the band were angry enough about to leave the label) so there is some filler on here, the instrumental D.L.C for example, is fairly pointless. But what is good is fantastic.
Skinning Pit opens with the Goodfellas “Everybody takes a beating sometime” sample. It’s built around an almost dance beat, but soaked with a filthy guitar sound that chugs nicely, giving the song a pleasing snarl. Another highlight, Prison Breaker, has a woozy feel to its bass lead, bleary eyed haze and has more than a little Big Muff era Mudhoney about it.
The EP closer, Potato Junkie, has a surprisingly funk bassline for a borderline hardcore song. It’s a diatribe against phoney Orishisms, but being Andy Cairns, he had to make it weird and kinda funny, so the song starts with Cairns shouting “I’m bitter! I’m Twisted! James Joyce is fucking my sister!” It’s the only song from these eps left in the band’s set list and I’m sure they’re going to have to play it every night until they finally call it quits.
I love these EPs so much. These are the songs that taught me that you didn’t have to be metal to be noisy. You can have aggression, tunes and a weird sense of humour and still have big riffs. No one else ever sounded like this before or after this. Even Therapy? don’t sound like this any more. This is a two ep lighting in a bottle, where a band who didn’t know the rules just did whatever seemed right to them and struck gold.
Annoyingly, neither eps have ever been on streaming services. I’m not sure if there’s still bad blood between the band and Wijia, but the only place you’re going to find these eps is on Youtube. Or in other more nefarious places, because you can’t buy them.
The ways of exile 