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Therapy? - One Cure Fits All It’s been a long time since this reviewer listened to Therapy?, but within a few bars of Sprung, the first proper track on One Cure Fits All, it all comes flooding back. That rock drumming with the flat, punchy snare sound that’s not a million miles away from hip hop; those cloying, fuzzy guitars. And then there are those vocals that sound distant, yet press up against you and demand attention at the same time. Essentially, they’ve not changed. But when they emerged with hits like Screamager and Teeethgrinder in the early 90s, there weren’t enough guitars in the charts. Now we’ve got too many (even if half of them are dull copycats), so is there still room for Therapy??
Well if the music is good enough, who cares whether it fits in with the supposed ‘zeitgeist’ or not. And One Cure Fits All is certainly good enough. Like their classic Troublegum from the mid-90s, what’s important about Therapy? is that they never forget the importance of having a good riff to carry the verse, along with the kind of chorus that gets imprinted onto the inside of your brain. That this is their 11th(!) studio album, and they’re still so good at it, well, that’s a feat in itself, but it also stands up on its own terms. And frequently runs.
“They didn’t believe me then. They won’t believe me now”, sings Andy Cairns on the chorus of Sprung, as the guitars spiral in and around, splicing a certain pop sensibility into proceedings, without ever leaving hard-edged indie-rock, even for a moment. Deluded Son is no less memorable, where the epic backing vocals in the chorus ensure that anthemic is the first word that comes to mind. The riff stops and starts beneath, leaving space for the excellent production to show itself.
And there it continues. One Cure Fits All is a collection of songs that stands up with the best that the group have made. Of course, if it isn’t your cup of rock in the first place, then this album isn’t likely to change your mind. But listen to how good they can make a list of chemicals occurring naturally in the body sound in the building chorus of Dopamine, Seratonin, Adrenaline, and it’s clear that they’re not going to be short of a younger generation of new fans.
Indeed, the great riffs just keep on coming. Like on the slow-burning track at the mid-point of the album, Unconsoled, which really draws you in. “It leaves me cold”, protests Cairns, but for the listener it does anything but. Okay, so with 11 albums, they’ve never really been away, but for what it’s worth, we’re glad to have them back, and apologise for not paying enough attention recently. Therapy? are well and truly carving their own tributary away from the mainstream, but there are so many bands sailing on by, powerless in the current, who could learn a great deal from these three pairs of safe hands.
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