Irish trio Therapy? are now a well established part of the UK music scene, having been one of those rare bands to cross the divide between indie and rock in both fan and press acclaim. And this, their fifth album, may see them consolidate their success with inroads into the U.S.
Their first two mini-albums Babyteeth and Pleasure Death (packaged together outside the UK as Caucasian Pyschosis) found an audience with those who fancied an industrial-edged Big Black noise. The major-label debut Nurse saw them refining and experimenting with their sound inside more traditional song structures. But it was the Shortsharpshock EP which broke them through with its speedy bursts of pop-punk-metal which was continued with a darker edge on their Troublegum album. The odd accusation of "cartoon angst" was tossed at the band as their lyrical matter seemed to jar against their nice-guy real life personalities and T-shirts declaring "IRONY?" but few could deny that Therapy?, as the Americans would say, ROCK!
And so to Infernal Love, mooted pre-release to be Therapy?'s happy album and patently nothing of the sort. What it is is Therapy? mixing the metallic rock of Troublegum with the more moody introspective down-beat moments on Nurse aided by liberal use of a cello, and chucking in a few surprises along the way. Linked by dark sound-pieces courtesy of Irish electronic composer David Holmes this'll do just nicely.
Things kick off with the break-neck "Epilepsy", all full-throttle guitars and speeding off-kilter drums with a jazz break-down in the middle. An instant Therapy? classic. As too is the first single "Stories", a familiar Therapy? pop-punk anthem with added pimp horns and the repeated assertion that "Happy people have no stories".
Then comes a huge chunk of what could be called power-ballads - initially worryingly bland it's only after a few listens that the dark lyrics take a hold and the claws start digging in. You get three in a row, "A Moment of Clarity", the more mid-tempo soar of "Jude the Obscene" which could easily take up MTV residence, and the superb Nick Cave/ Tindersticks croon of the latin flavoured "Bowels of Love".
"Misery" re-dresses the balance in favour of rocking out although proves to be a little too Therapy?-by-numbers with its "Here comes the misery/Yeah Yeah" hookline. "Bad Mother" is much much better. Reminiscent of their cover of The Police's "Invisible Sun" there's an echoing white reggae riff on the verse and a chorus-line that tugs at the heart strings with Andy Cairn's strong clear voice. "Me Vs You" is another dark tale of love gone wrong, this time with a western feel, but it can't escape the feeling of one-ballad-too-many.
*Then* we get the happy song. Loose is a breezy piece of summer-time love with an upbeat Husker Du/Sugar feel. A deserved hit. The fact that it precedes the sick chill of Diane heightens the effect of both. A cover of the Husker Du song which Kurt Cobain *must* have heard before writing "Polly", it's a dark somber love song from a rapist here given a choral feel. Whether or not it's a brave or a stupid move I'm still not sure, leaving them as it does open to misinterpretation but for sure it's the most disturbing 3 minutes you'll endure for quite some time.
Things draw to a close with the bitter anger and vicious spaghetti western tremolo of "30 Seconds" but in amongst the bile they offer a life-line with the mantra that "There is a light at the end of the tunnel". And coming from the man who wrote the line "With a face like this I won't break any hearts", the assertion that "I look at myself in a sober light/I'm not Elvis but I'm alright" just makes you want to give him a big hug and a smile.
Infernal Love is one of those all too rare albums which *feels* like an album rather than just a collection of songs. It's initially disappointing - too rock, too *normal* - but soon starts digging in its hooks and revealing all its clever touches and dark edges. Certainly their most accomplished album if not their best but definitely one that could yet see them rule the world.
