*** Therapy?

SUICIDE PACT -- YOU FIRST

(ARK 21)

Losing their deal with A&M after a reasonably successful five-album relationship, Irish neo-punks Therapy? were one of the casualties of the Universal merger last year. Yet long before that, trouble was brewing for the band, who never quite recovered from the success of their biggest hit, '94's "Troublegum." Until now, that is. In the crash and burn of the wittily titled Suicide Pact -- You First, the quartet are back on track, rediscovering their original raw fervor without entirely ditching their melodic punch. Here, more than ever, Therapy? muster influences both old (Pistols, Buzzcocks) and older (Beefheart), and new (a nod to the Stray Cats that's especially evident in the gripping opening track, "He's Not That Kind of Girl"). In "Little Tongues First," the band's reworked industrial thrash comes off as little more than able noise, and though acutely catchy, "Jam Jar Jail" is reminiscent of the Cult's pointless repetitions. Far better is "Wall of Mouths," an artful update of punk stamina with typically effusive guitar work that doesn't scream formula. Like a new brand of candy, Suicide Pact is hardly original, but it's contagious nonetheless.

-- Linda Laban