{"id":42517,"date":"2026-08-18T10:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.toppermost.co.uk\/?p=42517"},"modified":"2026-08-18T10:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:54:06","slug":"therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toppermost.co.uk\/therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Therapy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Track<\/th>Album<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Loser Cop<\/td>Babyteeth<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Potato Junkie<\/td>Pleasure Death<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Teethgrinder<\/td>Nurse<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Knives<\/td>Troublegum<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Trigger Inside<\/td>Troublegum<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Diane<\/td>Infernal Love<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jam Jar Jail<\/td>Suicide Pact \u2013 You First<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Somnambulist<\/td>Crooked Timber<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Die Laughing<\/td>Greatest Hits (The Abbey Road Session)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Days Kollaps<\/td>Hard Cold Fire<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
l-r Fyfe Ewing, Andy Cairns, Michael McKeegan
1992 A&M publicity photo Steve Gullick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time of writing, Therapy? have just finished recording album number 17. Bands this deep into their recording career often find themselves in a creative slump. Deep Purple<\/a>\u2019s 17th album Bananas <\/em>is widely regarded as their worst. Black Sabbath\u2019s #17 is the lumpen Cross Purposes<\/em>. Neil Young<\/a>\u2019s 16th and 17th releases are the execrable Old Ways <\/em>and Landing On Water<\/em> (and I love Neil Young).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s if bands ever get to album #17. AC\/DC<\/a> only managed it in 2020 with Power Up<\/em> (it\u2019s a bit meh). Therapy? can see in their rearview mirror, bands who had a huge head start on them such as U2<\/a>, Aerosmith and R.E.M.<\/a> – a measly 15 albums each. Their mates Manic Street Preachers<\/a>? 15 and counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe a better comparison is fellow Northern Irish upstarts Stiff Little Fingers<\/a>? Only 10 studio releases since 1979\u2019s Inflammable Material<\/em>. How about Ash? Not even in double figures yet. Even a band as widely considered prolific as New Model Army has only released 16 albums. The Wildhearts\u2019 incredible Satanic Rites Of The Wildhearts<\/em> (2025) was that band\u2019s 11th release but they have combusted and reformed with different lineups more often than you\u2019ve had hot dinners. Throw in Ginger Wildheart\u2019s solo, side and short-lived projects and among their early 90s \u02c8Britrock\u02c8 contemporaries only then<\/em> do Therapy? begin to look like comparative slouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s my Toppermost Therapy? guide. It\u2019s not the band\u2019s ten best songs nor even my favourite ten. Rather, it\u2019s ten that I think best sums up their long career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Loser Cop <\/strong>(1) is not a song I would rank in T?\u2019s top tier cannon but I include it here because it shows the musical chops that most people were probably unaware the band hand during their mid 90s pop-punk peak. With the Troubles raging, T? were part of the DIY, punk-ethos Warzone Collective and amidst the debut mini-LP Babyteeth<\/em>\u2019s (1991) spikey, grubby noise, Loser Cop freewheels into avant garde, Zappa-esque jazz. It\u2019s not a great song but it was early proof that this trio \u2013 one Catholic, one Protestant, one a \u2018Mongrel\u2019 \u2013 were going to be difficult to pigeonhole. Not \u2018typical\u2019 Northern Irish punk, not metal, not garage rock nor hardcore, but distilling elements of each with a healthy dose of dance music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n