Therapy? Headline Indie Daze festival
Maybe you weren’t there to witness the tidal wave of alternative rock acts dominating the airwaves in the early 90s? In that case you might be forgiven for thinking that question mark is the sound of my trying to figure out where I’d heard the name. But some of you, like me, might have been fortunate enough to have witnessed first-hand the ‘more-alternative-than-metal’ three-piece with the unshakeable punctuation tearing their way out of Northern Ireland. For those lucky souls, hearing that Therapy? are going to be heading the bill at Indie Daze on October 5th at the Kentish Town Forum provides the comforting reassurance that all is well in the world. Check for tickets (and all other Camden gigs here)
Therapy? have a gritty and abrasive flavour which combines the nihilistic buzz of the Seattle grunge sound (think more Alice in Chains than Nirvana), with crunchy palm-mutes and muscular bass lines reflective of the nu-metal and punk scenes of the same era. They take those sounds and drag them all facedown through the kind of dark, avant-garde alleyways where Faith No More and The Cardiacs like to hang out smoking cigarettes after school.
What have Therapy? been up to?
Since their first major label release, Nurse in 1992, Therapy? have left a trail of widely acclaimed albums in their wake, including the infamous Troublegum in 1994, Suicide Pact: You First (1999) and Crooked Timber (2009). With a Mercury Prize nomination along the way, they’ve never resigned themselves to playing to anyone’s expectations. They’ve been accused of being everything from metal to noise-rock and even ‘punk-pop’ (with a capital ‘PUNK’ mind). In truth (as opposed to the genre-hopping shenanigans of bands like Ween) Therapy? manage to consistently be all of those things…and none.
They released their 15th studio album (that’s right, I said 15th), Cleave in September 2018. Sounding as frustrated and raw as they did thirty years ago, Therapy? still retain the tangible charm of that heavy, nineties guitar aesthetic that makes them the perfect act to top this killer bill of indie legends.
What to expect?
Though they’ve maybe not retained enough stature to pick up a notable crowd of younger listeners over the years, expect a seasoned act that’s torn up festival stages all over Europe. Therapy? have been blowing the roofs off of venues that have ranged from the humble Water Rats to the much more impressive Koko for 3 decades now. We can all look forward to Therapy? commanding the sizeable stage at The Forum with gravitas; walls shaking, heads nodding and fists in the air.
Tracks to check out before you go:
“Little Tongues First”: One of my personal favourites.
“Screamager”: Breakthrough hit, still haunting the alt. 90s playlists.
“Deathstimate”: The darker, more brooding side of Therapy?
“Wreck It Like Beckett”: Great track from the last album, ‘Cleave’
and you can find them on Spotify right here