This December, Ballyclare/Larne founded, punk-imbued alt rockers Therapy? celebrate the 20th anniversary of Infernal Love by performing the timeless opus in its entirety at a trio of dates in Dublin and Belfast. Released a year after the world-beating Troublegum, the impossible to pigeon-hole offering is a masterpiece, which still sounds as fresh today as it did in 1995. Though at first critically maligned in some circles due to the radical change in sound, the darker, denser material has since aged like a fine wine, and nowadays many are rediscovering the record.
However, for Therapy?, specifically their frontman and guitarist Andy Cairns, the album is also a reminder of a painful period in their history. On the outside, the press sharpened their paper knives and stabbed the band in the back for the crime of not writing Troublegum Part II and on the inside, the over-worked trio were falling apart, with founding member/drummer Fyfe Ewing ultimately departing the group for good.
“It was a difficult, drug-addled time,” begins their charismatic singer when we ask him how he feels about Infernal Love now. “We took quite a kicking critically and it was almost infectious, people that knew nothing about the band were slagging us off. We also weren’t getting on and I think that was one part of my life where I switched off.
“It was such a painful record to make, it is quite difficult going back to it now. I’ve got so many mixed feelings about it. But it was a brave album for us to make at the time, especially in the climate then. History dictates that we should have made Troublegum Part II. I still argue Ash came along and they were doing something similar. They were younger, better looking and more relevant to the Britpop thing than Therapy? would have been, so we had nowhere else to go but somewhere different.”
Having already performed Infernal Love in full once last year at the Sonisphere festival in Knebworth, England and seen first-hand the affection for the record from the fans (organisers had to turn people away as the tent was at full capacity), does Andy feel like he’s exorcised his demon?
“I’m trying to get rid of it. I’m pretty working class and have that whole pull yourself up by the bootstraps mindset, but that period was a really horrendous time. I do feel vindicated now when fans come up to me and tell me that album got them through a hard time in their lives and that’s the most important thing regardless of how I feel about it now. People having the inverted question mark tattoos on their arm from that album or who have got married or met at an Infernal Love show somewhere or who have said it was such an important part of their lives... that does give me a sense of pride in it.”
This December they won’t just be re-visiting the Infernal Love days either, as they also have an arsenal of future pit anthems to perform in the form of their 2015-released Disquiet.
“We love playing the new songs. It’s a record which ticks off all the boxes for Therapy? fans and they’re going down really well. I’ve a funny feeling the next album will be more experimental and outside the box though. I think if we can continue in the vein of [Disquiet track] ‘Deathstimate’ and make the riffs slightly more complex, but at the same time give the listener something to react to emotionally, that’s the path we’re looking to go down.”
But before we get to album number 15, there’s the impending arrival of Christmas to deal with. Does Andy enjoy giving his chestnuts a good roasting around this time of year?
“I’m not doing anything interesting for Christmas this year, but as a Chelsea supporter and season ticket holder I’m actually going to be sitting with my fingers crossed for one or two wins!”
Andy, old son, I wouldn’t get your hopes up…..
Therapy? play their Infernal Love and More shows at the Button Factory, Dublin on Dec 10 and 11 and the Limelight, Belfast on Dec 12.