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Therapy - Crooked Timber
| Drownedinsound |
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You could be forgiven if your first thoughts on hearing this album were WTF? Therapy? are still going? Well they are, and the ‘?’ in their name is still ruining the flow of sentences in their reviews. Andy Cairns and co must have seeped into many people’s musical landscapes since the heady early-Nineties heights of Nurse and Troublegum but true success always eluded them, as they were only too aware. It was hard not to warm to a band who called their best of So Much For The Ten Year Plan and promoted it by telling stories of their label opining that they were too ugly to ever break through. But metal fans are loyal, see, and like many bands before them it seems Therapy? have been kept alive by a loyal kernel of followers. Great metal bands never die, at least until their members do. Just look at Anvil. Wisely they’ve reverted to their roots, Crooked Timber keeping things good and heavy. ‘The Head That Tried To Strangle Itself’ employs the twin staples of a pounding riff and semi-operatic vocals, while also maintaining the band’s career-long preoccupation with themes of insanity, Cairns having a good old shout about ‘the madness of the shrieking skull’. Following that, ‘Enjoy The Struggle’ reminds you why they were once tipped for mass appeal; while not letting up the pace, there’s a clarity to its delivery that you could imagine pleasing jumbo-sized crowds. It was even scheduled as the first single, before the band replaced it with the more ambiguous title track....full text |
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| Lordsofmetal |
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Evil Dr. Smith: If you’re now still wanting, wailing and whining about a retraining exercise of ‘Troublegum’, or even worse: hardcore cover ballads like ‘Diane’, then you have been utterly ignorant for the last fifteen years and is my only advice to be kicked pretty hard on your behind. Therapy? is doing his stubborn thing and if you like, it’s fine. But if you don’t like their pigheadedness, then Andy Cairns & Company don’t give a rat’s ass about it. As long as they can put their fun, energy and virulence in their music, which means that they don’t concentrate themselves anymore on those teenager sing-along punk rock songs. Not that those weren’t brilliant, but that was then and this is now. Their last five albums weren’t always commercially and artistically successful, but on this album at least the artistic degree is very satisfying. Their obstinate angularity is celebrating it dominance on this album and sounds like an homage to the freaky cold grooves of Prong, Helmet, Big Black and The Jesus Lizard. After the commercial heydays of ‘Troublegum’ and ‘Infernal Love’ it looks like Therapy? have become especially keen on very memorable titles of the opening tracks: ‘He’s Not That Kind Of Girl’, ‘Gimme Back My Brain’, ‘Hey Satan – You Rock’, ‘Outro’ (pretty odd for an opening track). This time it’s ‘The Head That Tried To Strangle Itself’, but it’s a bit of a rusty start. After that the Prong-like grooves in ‘Enjoy The Struggle’ is a lot more exciting and when the unruly percussion and industrial-sounded guitars in ‘Clown Galore’ resembles the ancient classic ‘Teethgrinder’ I’m getting a big, very big smile on my face. I keep that smile throughout the whole album with its against the grain type of rhythms, the dark melodies, pounding grooves and the nasal, but always instant recognizable voice of Andy. His lyrics and voice has a contemplating, reflective character; possibly the reason to name this album ‘Crooked Timber, which refers to a phrase from the famous philosopher Immanuel Kant. Also their ex-drummer Keith Baxter passed away suddenly last year, just before the band started recording this album, so that has undoubtedly its effect on the mood and lyrics of the album....full text |
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| Sputnikmusic |
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After a two year hiatus, the boys in Therapy? have re-emerged with Crooked Timber. Crooked Timber is typical Therapy? in other words, it's different than the preceding albums, yet still retains a signature sound. But beware, this is not Troublegum2...and that's a good thing. This album is much more akin to Therapy? more recent works "Never Apologise, Never Explain" and " One Cure Fits All" yet....is very different, just as those two were different from each other. Whereas "One Cure Fits All" was all guitar hooks and big (often over-repetitive)choruses, and "Never Apologise Never Explain" was loaded with noise-alt and punk influences, Crooked Timber focuses more on the rhythm, laying out some of the heaviest grooves since the band's indie heyday. Just check out the track "Clowns Galore". After a harmonic filled 35 second opening, it busts into a groove Kyuss would be proud of....full text |
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