On "infernal love," therapy? neatly sum up the difference between twentysomething ennui in suburban America and working-class Northern Ireland. "I get by on what I have/Less than Jesus, more than Dad," Therapy? singer and lyricist Andy Cairns asserts on the aggressively catchy tune "Stories." Clearly, Cairns is still grappling with the religious ambivalence and post-adolescent angst that were key ingredients on 1994's Troublegum, the album that made Therapy? stars in Britain and introduced the Belfast trio to fans on this side of the Atlantic.

But the main focus of Infernal Love, as its title suggests, is relationships. Not the kind that Luther Vandross croons about or even the sort Cairns' fellow Irishman and recovering Christian Bono has been brooding about lately. Instead, Therapy? lay claim to the great tradition of dark, twisted romance that's founded on equal parts punk nihilism and pop pathos. Cairns emerges as a worthy heir to Nick Cave and Iggy Pop, spinning accounts of frustrated passion and obsession that are eerily seductive.

"Bowels of Love," for instance, is the kind of lush, creepy ballad that Cave would probably be proud to know he had inspired; it comes complete with a haunting string arrangement by cellist Martin McCarrick, who joins Therapy? for several tracks on Infernal Love. McCarrick's plaintive playing underscores the brutality and anguish that pervade these songs, whether Cairns is casting himself as a remorseful lout on the muscular, melodramatic "Me vs. You" or as a sentimental rapist on a delicately chilling cover of Hüsker Dü's "Diane."

On up-tempo tracks such as "Misery" and "Epilepsy," Cairns' thrashing but deftly syncopated guitar riffs suggest something more complex and troubling than blind rage, particularly when set against the deceptively controlled and sophisticated rhythms supplied by bassist Michael McKeegan and drummer Fyfe Ewing. "30 Seconds" sounds equally bracing but at least offers a glimmer of hope. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel," goes the refrain, and Cairns sings it with a frantic urgency. For all his doubts about organized religion and love, he obviously senses the need to approach life and art with a little faith and courage. And surely living in Belfast helps a guy recognize the importance of those virtues. (RS 727)

ELYSA GARDNER