Therapy?
A Brief Crack Of Light
Blast Records

Back in time I was a student who every week scrounged together a few quid to go to the local rock club for Indie night. In the middle of the usual sounds from the Brit-pop explosion there was another little scene going on that was making waves among those who liked things a bit edgier. Yep, Brit-rock was a real thing that made the papers and the front of magazines and the dancefloors of the rock and indie clubs. Bands like The Wildhearts and Irish oiks Therapy? flicked the v-sign at the indie scene with their noisy, distorted guitar rock with anthems that polluted the airwaves and dancefloors and still do to this day.

Well, over time, that scene all but died away with most bands heading baunderground to live lives of cult status with the odd reunion tour along the way to keep the coin rolling in. Therapy? on the other hand have kept solidly churning out album after album of buzzing Brit-rock with little more than a nod of recognition from the rock press. Those of us who lived through that era though will always have a place in our hearts for the band and will certainly find nothing on A Brief Crack Of Light to change that feeling. Kicking off with the first single, Living In The Shadow Of A Terrible Thing, a brilliant slice of catchy, punky Brit-rock, the Irish boys certainly don’t seem to have lost it. Plague Bell sees the sound descend into a wall of ear-hurting noise while The Buzzing sees the sound return to the more sneering, distorted format of their earlier material and we’re talking pre-Screamager here. In fact, it has to be said that there isn’t anything on here that remotely fits in alongside their most successful material ever, although Therapy? were always at their finest when they were penning slightly fucked-up material rather than chart-denting pop-rock anyway and the ever-so-mental Get Your Dead Hand Off My Shoulder backs this fact up.

Of course, if you’re looking to relive your student days and dance your heart out to the likes of Nowhere then I’m sure the band will give you your fix on their upcoming tour. However, if you’re feeling moody, feeling a bit dark and want something that will fuck with your mind, then A Brief Crack Of Light will certainly tick all those boxes.

Release Date : February 6th 2012

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Review by Graham Finney