Wednesday, May 18, 1894,- The MichiganDaily- H

Therapy?
Gy Ted Watts
Therapy? Not a question, but a
proper name that causes some prob-
lems with its odd punctuation. This
hard-hitting Dublin band also seems
to have a misnomer, as their music is
not so much therapeutic as it is cathar-
tic. At any rate, the band is deserving
of attention, and they are coming for
the second time in the space of a
*onth, opening for a larger band.
"Wejust likeplaying with various
bands or whatever," says bassist
Michael McKeegan. "Generally, the
other bands we're with (in America)
have bigger crowds than us."
Having come to Detroit with the
bands Tad and King's X, it is hardly
surprising that they are coming with
the larger presence of the Rollins Band
is time.
But while Therapy?'s touring cre-
dentials are in order, it is much better
to judge them on their own merits.
First, look at themes. An obvious and
slightly disturbing one is found in the
recurrent use of teeth. For instance, in
the song "Trigger Inside,"singer Andy
Cairns croons, "Here comes a girl with
perfect teeth, I bet she won't be smil-
'ng at me." McKeegan illustrates the
se of the theme further: "Our first EP
was called 'Babyteeth.' And we've
released a single called
'Teethgrinder.' It's sort of a toothless
nursing type of thing."
The teeth are somewhat indicative
of the larger dark themes running

God, yes!
through the band's work. But
McKeegan had trouble answering
questions about the themes. "I really
don't know what to say. There's actu-
ally a lot of humor in it. You know,
you have what you think is the most
surreal or awful experience, and then
you look back on it and think, 'What
was that all about?"' With that in
mind, the song "Knives" with its lines,
"My girlfriend says that I need help,
my boyfriend says I'd be better off
dead," is a bit easier to deal with. The
same holds true for most of their other
songs as well.
It also helps coming to grips with
the art Therapy? chooses for their
records. Take the photos on
"Troublegum" as an example. "It's a
Dublin performance artist," explains
McKeegan. "He did some stuff for us
but we saw the one piece, and it really
stood out to us. We saw the one of the
guy bending over a trash can and the
fists. There's a bloody fist and a fist
covered in a white fluid. It doesn't
necessarily have a specific meaning,
though. It's just something to con-
template." Other art on some of their
discs includes a mouth full of horrifi-
cally underdeveloped teeth and a
young Jeffrey Dahmerlook-alike. Ob-
viously, their inclinations encroach
beyond the fold of mere music.
But they are a musical unit, and a
fine unit they are. Their live shows
are pretty intense, as they've been
known to play 11 songs in the space of

Don't be scared, Therapy? are really very humorous gentlemen

half an hour. "We're a bass, drum and
guitar group that doesn't have big
spooges between songs. Of course,
when we're notheadlining we play for
less time. Just sort of head down and
get into it." McKeegan expresses a
similar sentiment when it comes to
studio work. "We're the kind of band
that likes to go into the studio and
quickly turn out a few songs, since we
can write them fairly quickly. We're

not a band like, say, Def Leppard that
will take two years to put out an
album." On the technical side, the
band has shifted away from using
samples in their work. "We don't re-
ally need samples and such. It's kind
of old hat. Every band in a garage has
some samples. Bands like Nine Inch
Nails that are very sample driven are
creative. We only have some small
samples in the background."
And their fans are happy to have
them release stuff with or. without

samples, although unfortunately it has
been mostly released in Europe. The
British press has rabidly promoted
them to the point of nausea, but with
the effect that they have the popular-
ity to periodically release EPs. On
this side of the Atlantic, they aren't
quite as big. But then, that's really up
to you, isn't it?
Therapy?opensforthat wacky Rollins
Band tonight, Wednesday May 18 at
the State Theatre in Detroit. Call 961-
5450 for details.

WHORE
Continued from page 10


*ovided some appropriately athletic choreography, al-
though your eye will no doubt be drawn to the naked
buttocks kicking and running around the stage. Gardner
(or costume designer Jonathan Bixby) has these buffed
boys stripped down to their jockstraps, and while the
nudity is by no means unpleasant, it smacks of gratuitous-
ness.
Gardener's choreography hits the mark as always; he
makes good use of accessories like chairs and tambou-
rines, plus his runway which extends in front of the stage.
*ixby's costume plot works well, but Mona's costumes
" Top.
" Keel
Discount .Inst
- Wor
Tickets - Dis
. Effe
nOW tim
at the " Ma
Michigan Union 'Voi
Ticket Office,'Or
763-T Tt be 

do nothing for Montgomery.
Audience members even did a little costuming of their
own. So breakoutthose cowboy boots, butplease, remove
the 10-gallon hats when entering the theater.
Yes folks, Birmingham has a Whorehouse in it. / I'll
not let this production fade. / Birmingham has a
Whorehouse in it. / I'll uproot and I'll crusade. /I smell a
good production and I'll praise it to the top. / All the
singin'-dancin' goin' on should never stop.
THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS plays
through June 12 at the Birmingham Theatre (211 South
Woodward). Tickets range from $19.50-$35. Call (810)
644-3533for specific days and times and (810) 645-6666


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