Record review, Therapy? Crooked Timber

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Mike McGrath Bryan

Artist: Therapy"
Author: Mike McGrath Bryan

After 20 years and constant reinvention " challenge to the music industry and themselves" Therapy" return with what could well be their masterpiece. Crooked Timber has been three years in the making" and the wait has been well worth it" it not only affirms the band's incredible legacy" but takes them to a new level. By simultaneously revisiting their roots and experimenting boldly" the boys in black have created their best album in years. Produced by Andy Gill" he of Gang of Four fame and Red Hot Chili Peppers"debut"album infamy" and mixed by the band's own Andy Cairns himself" the album is tied together by a loose concept: examining what it means to be human in an increasingly homogenised existence.

The tunes are the band's strongest in years. By concentrating on rhythm over melody" a new" monstrous layer of thundering bass and the welcome return of old"school Therapy" clatterslap drumming create a hodge"podge of the familiar and the exciting" while the songwriting was clearly a labour of love" ranging from Cairns indulging his love for a filthily hooky punk tune" such as Enjoy the Struggle or Blacken the Page" to vast jams like the ten"minute Magic Mountain. The Therapy" of old makes its presence felt" with album opener The Head That Tried To Strangle Itself being their most aggressive opening gambit since Knives "the immortal opener of their 1994 classic Troublegum" if you aren't aware"" and could have sat easily in any of the band's early masterworks" a treatise on the mind that creeps under your skin: "Am I more/Than a noise/Just a noise/Just the noise the brain makes"". Not content with resting on their laurels" though "and thank god for that"" the band questions themselves and society on Clowns Galore" a tight" abrasive track that showcases just how confident Therapy" still are" still wanting to move forward while simultaneously kicking people's heads in: "What do we do/Now that we're happy""

The introspection of title track Crooked Timber displays another" less"seen side of the band" as propulsive rhythm drives tender harmonics and even" I daresay" a hint of vulnerability in Cairns' voice. But worry not" the dark side that characterised Therapy" is still in evidence" if somewhat altered. Bad Excuse For Daylight chugs forebodingly" deviating into free"jazz"inflected discord" while stand out track Exiles shuffles its way into your mind with a haunting" downbeat hook. Magic Mountain" as mentioned earlier" is nothing short of complete departure" a ten"minute tour de force going from utterly menacing to utterly serene at the drop of a hat" alternating between the two fluidly and bringing them together like the old pros they are. Somnambulist is a good old straight"ahead rocker with a dark twist in the Therapy" mould" while the black humour that permeated their work so well resurfaces in I Told You I Was Ill" Cairns playing the rascal examining his past with disarming sincerity.

The production" the mix" everything about this album is tightly"arranged and obviously the work of intensely passionate musicians. The drums" courtesy of Neil Cooper" clatter and smack in a manner reminiscent of his predecessor Fyfe Ewing" while the bass" supplied by the ever"irreverent Michael McKeegan is heavy and authoritative. The rhythm section being the focus of the album is a huge change in dynamic" but one that has paid off" the overall feel being one of an instinctively forward"thinking band that is having fun and saying what they have to. Andy Cairns' guitar sounds are incredibly sharp and weighty" but not so much as to outweigh any other element of any given song.

We've been waiting a long time. Oh yes. But my God" has the wait been worth it. An album with not one duff track" of which most stands up to anything they"ve ever done "no mean feat given their back catalogue" and an insight into the minds and hearts of a band that has presented us so many faces over the years" a band still passionate enough to innovate and bedevil perceptions after all these years. Glad to have ye back" lads.

Drop"d rating: 10/10