Therapy? – Die Laughing (1994)
Northern Ireland alternative grunge veterans Therapy? released the song Die Laughing as the third single on 30 May 1994 off their 1994 A&M Records album Troublegum. The single peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart, and #14 in the Irish Singles Chart. Chris Sheldon, known for his work with Foo Fighters, Garbage, Feeder, Biffy Clyro, and others produced the track, and all band members – Andy Cairns (vocals/guitar), Fyfe Ewing (drums), Michael McKeegan (bass) – are credited as writers of the song.
Die Laughing can be define as an alternative grunge ballad given its rather slow tempo and arguably more melodic nature. In addition, the song could have been a good choice for radio airplay given its duration of 2 minutes and 51 seconds. It has always been one of my favourite songs by Therapy?, and I’m still somehow surprised that it did not find more success.
Track 2 and 2, live versions of Stop It You’re Killing Me and Trigger Inside, recorded at the Town & Country Club, Leeds, England on 27 February 1994, are well-performed and obviously unedited tracks. The voices is sometimes a bit pitchy, and one or two (or even more) chords were simply played wrong. But that authenticity makes these live tracks even more charming.
Evil Elvis (The Lost Demo), track 4, is an unreleased song of Therapy? and an ass-kicking song. Extremely melodic compared to other compositions of the band. A great choice to close up this single release, but still makes me wonder, why the heck did the band decide not to use it for an album?
Die Laughing is definitely a gem in my collection. Not only does the single come in a fun digipack with a hidden, smiling and laughing clown when you open the digipack, the 13 minutes of music are very diverse but still follow a dotted line. Also, I remember loving the fact that Therapy? added two live versions of songs from the current album as B-sides. And an unreleased demo of a superb song at the end, makes this single release a sure win for anyone who likes Therapy?. Very happy that I got this one back in the days.