THERAPY? is a band (a pretty weird one I must admit) that I had the chance/pleasure to get to know at a pretty young age. Not having a wide variety of musical experiences back then, I was pretty amazed by this unique act, but I couldn't completely understand the whole concept of this kind of music. Years later I decided to bury them out of the dust and see how well I could do. The result was much better than the first time.

Even more years later, as a reviewer in an online magazine this time, I happened to come across the band's latest, brand new album Crooked Timber. The Northern Irish act celebrates its 20th anniversary and a brand new full-length release is probably a pretty nice way to invite their fans to party with them. Released by their brand new album DR2 Records, Crooked Timber is the band's 13th full-length release if I am not mistaken.

Lately I have been a lot into album presentations than reviews, so I am going to add one more. I am doing this because - in the specific occasion for instance - this band is not that close to the Metal scene and has a rather weird sound. Since it is for a limited number of our readers, I am just writing some introductive stuff, as well as some things that I noticed regarding the band, the album and their current state compared to their past...

THERAPY? could be described as an Alternative Rock act (with the pure meaning of the word alternative). If someone could compare their sound to some bands, those bands would be FAITH NO MORE, THE WILDHEARTS, as well as some Grunge/Hard Rock acts like SOUNDGARDEN and UGLY KID JOE, while drawing influences from the Punk Rock scene, too. The band was always known for its crazy compositions that were accompanied by a great sense of musical and lyrical humour. The fact is that the lyrical craziness has remained, but the insane music has given its place to more down to earth melodic songs that the average listener can endure even without having a serious contact with the Rock scene.

I guess that THERAPY? could use some therapy, maybe some electrocution to recover their lost wild imagination. I listened to this album several times without getting bored and I can say that I even enjoyed the album, but I think that the band has softened its sound.