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CD's in REVIEW:

RADIO THERAPY * 'A Solution to TV Boredom'

By Randy Chandler

Following on the heels of their 2003 release, "Adjusted Frequency", Bay City's Radio Therapy has just released their newest effort, "A Solution to TV Boredom". The disc, produced by guitarist/singer Robert Atha, showcases a blend of brash histrionics with strong melodic undercurrents, staying true to the band's already-established sound while venturing off into new directions.

Kicking off with the dour yet infectious "Justice Tonight", which opens the CD in fine punk-pop form, Atha and his bandmates-guitarist/vocalist Kurt Cunningham, drummer John Cashman, and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Tom Towns - tear through two more familiar-sounding tunes, Cunningham's "Take A Chance" and Atha's "Just Another Girl".

Track #4, however, signifies that there have been some changes in the way they do things. Cunningham's "Hate To Love", while not exactly a groundbreaking lyrical subject, is nonetheless swathed in a truly interesting musical setting.
      

Indeed, Cunningham's songwriting in particular has improved exponentially. Along with "Hate", his best pieces on the disc are the brooding "Long Walk With Justice" and the 'hope-in-the-face-of-hopelessness' ditty "The Big Sleep". The storytelling element, best exemplified on 'Frequency's' "Partners in Crime", surfaces again on the touching "Little Stars".
There has always been a duality to Therapy's personality, and Kurt's songs represent their "college music" side- he's even starting to sound a tad like Morrissey in some spots.
  

 Atha is, of course, no slouch either, contributing the raucous "Last Girl On Earth" (featuring my favorite line on the whole CD,"I need you like a junkie needs a fix everyday"), and "Lipstick On my Soul" (co-penned with the Swaggering Rogues' Chris Shannon), two sneering blasts of punk power that bring the overall energy level of the disc up considerably.

Atha is the dyed-in-the-wool, three-chords-and-the-truth punk element that makes up the other half of Therapy's psyche, though he can surprise you at times - check out "Greatest Show In The Galaxy", with its lullaby-like intro that soon explodes into a fitting end to the CD. "Galaxy"'s guitar solo features, of all things, a quote from Aldo Nova's 1982 single "Fantasy".
    

 Of special interest to longtime followers of the band is the inclusion of the Atha-penned Round and a Distant Few opus, "Hold Your Hand To Hell", which some of you may remember as the B-side to Round's 1998 single, "Pissed at The World". (Trivia note: that single featured backing vocals by Cunningham prior to his joining Round and, thus became part of the chain of events that has brought us the Radio Therapy we know today - am I a local music geek or what???)
       

Not to be forgotten, Towns and Cashman are all over this sucker - it's hard to imagine the arrangements of the aforementioned tuneage without their distinctive stamp, especially the intro to "Hate To Love".

Again, Towns contributes some tasty additional guitar work, and the songs would be much emptier without Cashman's percussion barrage. The production is clean, but doesn't sound fussed-over-it sounds as if the band cut the whole thing live, with minimal overdubs, thus capturing the urgency of the music.
        

 A fitting successor to their debut, and a portent of things to come.....

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