Reviewing a new Therapy? album is difficult. They’ve been going over twenty years now – and it’s been nearly that long since they were a serious commercial force. Some might say it’s been nearly that long since they made a decent record. It’s not easy to ignore the fact that they keep on going, knocking out albums – this one being number thirteen – despite the fact they fell from favour around the time of album number six. It it reasonable to expect me to listen to ‘A Brief Crack of Light’ and not compare it unfavourably to the low-fi underground squall of ‘Babyteeth’ and ‘Pleasure Death’, or the menacing grind of ‘Nurse’ or even the dark pop-infused punk of ‘Troublegum’? It’s a tall order, and no mistake.
But try listening to this album and forgetting it’s Therapy? If it was a completely new band, how would it be received? Probably fairly well. It certainly doesn’t sound like a band with a 20-plus year history going through the motions and churning out the same stuff for a diminishing fan base. There’s variety to be found here, as well as some solidly dense, dark guitar-driven numbers, there’s nothing that attempts to rehash the punk-pop of ‘Screamager’. That isn’t to say they’ve lost the knack for a hook, but it’s not some feeble attempt at rebuilding a commercial rock audience. If this was a new band, reviewers would be giving big thumbs up for its fiery feel and for the way it pushes in different directions. They’d be right to, because ‘A Brief Crack of Light’ doesn’t fit any standard rock – or pop, or punk – template, and at times demonstrates a venomous ferocity that’s eye-opening.
‘Before You, With You, After You’ pulls a sense of emotional depth into a track that boasts some big guitars, while closer ‘Ecclesiastes’ strays into unexpected territory. Not only does it border on ballad with some delicate, chorused guitar, but also features some incongruous autotuned / vocoder-treated vocals that are more Krautrock than punk rock. There’s some pummelling, and in places frenetic percussion that really distinguishes this album from the morass of trend rock / metal, and some brilliant spineshaking basslines snaking ominously over the top. They’re not afraid to back off the density every now and again to allow the songs space to breathe, either. This serves to increase the impact of the explosive power chords when they really do crank up the distortion and go for it.
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If ‘Marlow’ is surprising for incorporating bastardized world music elements against a grainy bass, then and ‘Why Turbulence’ kick like a mule having a panic attack.
Lead single ‘Living in the Shadow of the terrible Thing’ is by no means the best track, although opening the album and launching it with a short, sharp hook-laden blast it is an obvious single choice. ‘Stark Raving Sane’ also stands out as being more overtly poppy, and is probably the track’s weakest moment: it’s when Cairns and crew plunge into the darkness, as they do on ‘The Buzzing’ that ‘A Brief Crack of Light’ works best.
The bottom line is that this is a decent – and often idiosyncractic – album. With some genuinely powerful moments and a capacity to deliver surprises, ‘A Brief Crack of Light’ has a lot going for it – and if you’d written Therapy? off as a spent force, shame on you.
Therapy? Online
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