HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Troublegum – Therapy?

In 1993, THERAPY? were enjoying the success of their major label debut album Nurse which had been released by A&M Records in late 1992. A dark, sometimes almost industrial, blend of punk noise, indie rock and dance (with samples courtesy of producer Harvey Birrell) Nurse had been met with critical acclaim and UK chart success, with the song Teethgrinder reaching number 38 in the top 40 singles chart and instantly becoming something of an anthem for the band’s early days.

During breaks in their hectic Nurse touring schedule, though, the Northern Irish trio of Andy Cairns (guitar/vocals), Michael McKeegan (bass) and Fyfe Ewing (drums/vocals) were starting to write and demo a new batch of songs that still retained their debut’s punk edge and attitude but this time brought a more metallic, riff-based focus to the band’s output heavily influenced by the band’s love of post-hardcore New York band HELMET. 

Working with new producer Chris Sheldon, who had previously worked with THE PIXIES, was a nervous experience for both parties. Sheldon had been a fan of the band’s earlier work but also knew that his own approach to recording was more guitar-focused and so would naturally remove some of the more dance and noise-rock sounds that fans had loved on their debut. in an interview with Kerrang! in 2019, Sheldon himself said “I was so worried that it was such a radical departure that people would say I’d ruined the band”.

He needn’t have worried. Despite the nerves, as soon as recording sessions started it was apparent to everyone involved that this new approach was needed to enhance the heavier, grittier guitar sound the band wanted while bringing out the catchier, harmony-filled choruses that lift many of these songs out of the unremitting darkness that permeates the whole thing. That’s not to say this is a pop-punk album though, and the band were keen to stress that at the time. Despite the singles from Troublegum enjoying a great deal of UK chart success, THERAPY? were still very much a band exploring the darker side of life, as opening track Knives instantly made clear when the album was finally released in February 1994.

Knives set the band’s new musical manifesto out instantly, a brief, stabbing, staccato intro jumping out of the speakers before Cairns’ sinister, whispered lyrics fill the gaps, given the impression of a man on the edge: “My girlfriend says…that I need help“. In less than two minutes, listeners were taken on a journey through chugging METALLICA-esque guitars, an out-of-control atonal solo and a crescendo of anger and paranoia that erupts in the later, screamed pre-choruses (if they can be called that), Cairns’ initial whisper now unleashed and howling: “All people are shit! Bad trip tattooed on my brain!“. There aren’t many ‘mainstream’ British metal albums that have opened so furiously, before or since. 

Before listeners could take a breath, they were assaulted again with the pounding toms of the intro to Screamager – a song the band had released as a single in 1993 and one that had done a great deal to bring the band to the attention of the wider music world, peaking at an impressive number nine in the UK charts. The combination of dark, punk-metal verse, hooky, melody-driven chorus and angst-ridden lyrics proved to be a successful one and became key elements of the band’s signature sound right up to the present day – although admittedly the lyrics and themes have matured somewhat since.

Lyrically, the album is dark throughout, though still retains a tongue-in-cheek humour, dealing with feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing in the face of failed relationships, broken dreams and an inability to ‘fit in’ with everyone else. This helped make it the perfect album for teenagers around the world experiencing those same feelings for the first time and providing a uniquely British counterpoint to similarly-themed songs emerging from the Seattle grunge scene at the time. This attitude is perhaps best summed up by the opening line of Stop It You’re Killing Me: “The world is fucked – and so am I”.

However, it is with deeper cuts like Femtex, Lunacy Booth and Hellbelly where the band explore gender inequality and the crushing burden of guilt that comes with a traditional Irish Catholic upbringing and these songs – just as much as the rock night staple that Screamager quickly became – are the reason that Troublegum still sounds so relevant, so potent, thirty years later.

The band followed the commercial success of Screamager with a further four singles from the album charting in the UK Top 40 – Turn, Nowhere, Trigger Inside and Die Laughing, thus cementing the band in the consciousness of the music-loving public with accompanying appearances on legendary TV shows such as Top Of The Pops and live show The Word. However, the band have admitted their Word performance of Nowhere wasn’t their greatest moment, having spent most of the day enjoying the ‘hospitality’ back-stage only to then play the song barely able to stand up.

This was perhaps an unfortunate sign of things to come, as follow-up album Infernal Love (still a classic but less commercially successful), was written and recorded in an exhausted, drug-addled state, the band (and Cairns in particular, by his own admission) succumbing to the pressures of the success they had enjoyed up to that point. 

THERAPY? though, as the lyrics on Troublegum will attest, have always been fighters and their grit, belief, and sheer talent have meant they are still enjoying a great deal of success today, very much embracing the journey on which this album set them off without simply becoming a nostalgia act. The band are celebrating in their own special way with a 30th anniversary tour making its way to the UK later this year, where countless fans old and new will bounce about and scream along with joy, all ignoring the irony of Cairns – thirty years later – singing repeatedly about going nowhere. 

Troublegum was originally released on February 7 1994 via A&M Records.

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