{{Short description|1993 single by Therapy?}} {{Infobox song | name = Screamager | cover = Therapy? - Screamager.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = Therapy? | EP = Shortsharpshock E.P. {{noitalic|and}} Troublegum | released = March 8, 1993 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = * Pop-punk * grunge | length = 2:36 | label = A&M | writer = * Andy Cairns * Michael McKeegan * Fyfe Ewing | producer = Chris Sheldon | prev_title = Teethgrinder | prev_year = 1992 | next_title = Turn | next_year = 1993 }} "'''Screamager'''" is a song by Northern Irish rock band Therapy?, released on March 8, 1993 from their debut EP ''Shortsharpshock E.P.'' as the lead single. It is also featured on their fourth and second major label album ''Troublegum'' (1994). The song is considered to have propelled the band to fame.
==Background and recording== Andy Cairns wrote the riff of the song around age 16-17 on bass. It was used in the outro of Therapy?'s song "SWT" (standing for "Spide With Tache"), from an early demo by the band.<ref name="LS">{{cite web |last1=Yates |first1=Henry |title=The Story Behind The Song: Screamager By Therapy? |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-screamager-therapy |website=LouderSound |access-date=23 October 2023 |date=November 23, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Kerrang">{{cite web |last1=Acharya |first1=Kiran |title=Troublegum At 25: An Oral History Of The Therapy? Classic |url=https://www.kerrang.com/troublegum-at-25-an-oral-history-of-the-therapy-classic |website=Kerrang! |access-date=23 October 2023 |date=February 7, 2019}}</ref> Cairns had always thought the riff did not "go on enough".<ref name="Kerrang" />
One afternoon, Cairns and Michael McKeegan were watching television in a shared hotel room when they came across the ''Smash Hits'' Awards. McKeegan referred to the young girls in the audience who were screaming at Phillip Schofield and others onstage as "screamagers", which Cairns thought of as a title for a song.
In regard to recording the song, Cairns recalled:
<blockquote>I was into Ulster punk. Stuff like Stiff Little Fingers, The Undertones, Rudi. I came into the studio one day and said: "That riff we used to have… Let's turn that into the main riff and write a three-and-a-half-minute song that sounds like Ulster punk and a bit Ramones-y." We'd been a noisy rock band – people lumped us in with Big Black and Sonic Youth – so for us to come out with a melodic rock song was quite exciting. I remember playing it to friends who'd normally hate anything like that, and their reaction was really positive. So we played it, but it just sounded a bit generic, so we decided at the very start we'd do the "duh-duh-duh!", stop playing and let the drums carry the melody – which was our nod to Helmet. It has a classic format, but it's the little things: the stop-start intro, the double-time at the end… originally, Fyfe was playing this really bizarre Neil Peart, eight-bar fill, but Chris Sheldon told us: "Well, if you're going for classic Ulster punk, go straight in."</blockquote>
When Therapy? played the song for an A&R representative from A&M Records, he said "Oh, man… I don't think your fans will like it. Your fans like Nine Inch Nails, they don't like the Ramones.' They put a bit of money behind promotion, but not as much as they'd have done with other bands."<ref name="LS" />
In 2019, McKeegan stated in an interview with ''Kerrang!'':
<blockquote>"Screamager" was a case of just getting things a bit more direct, with the Helmet thing on the main chords. We loved ''Strap It On'', and ''Meantime'' had just come out at that time, so it kind of made sense. But, the progression itself is a lot more melodic than maybe a Helmet track would have been. So it was a good happy medium, where we didn't just try to shoehorn a Helmet vibe onto what was a really good song. It kind of just toughened it up and made the chorus bigger and sweeter-sounding and also kept the grit in the verse, which is exactly what we wanted.<ref name="Kerrang" /></blockquote>
Therapy? planned the song to be a "one-off" and return to their noise rock style, but following the popularity of the song they decided to release more songs stylistically similar to that of "Screamager".<ref name="LS2">{{cite web |last1=Everley |first1=Dave |title=Therapy?: How ''Troublegum'' catapulted three unlikely Irish lads to stardom |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/therapy-how-troublegum-catapulted-three-unlikely-irish-lads-to-stardom |website=LouderSound |date=7 November 2019 |access-date=October 23, 2023}}</ref>
==Composition== "Screamager" is a pop-punk<ref name="LS2" /><ref name="AM">{{cite web |publisher=AllMusic |last=Kellman |first=Andy |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/troublegum-mw0000108857 |title=Troublegum - Therapy? |access-date=October 23, 2023}}</ref> and grunge song. The lyrics have been described as "self-loathing". According to Andy Cairns, the song was about "getting away from any responsibility" and the only "autobiographical side of it" was the opening line, "With a face like this, I won't break any hearts".<ref name="LS2" />
==Critical reception== The song was praised by many music magazines, such as ''Metal Hammer'' and ''NME''.<ref name="LS2" /> Andy Kellman of ''AllMusic'' commented that "Metal-phobes can't help but give in to the irresistable [''sic''] pop-punk hook" of the song.<ref name="AM" />
In September 2000, "Screamager" ranked at number 86 in ''Kerrang!'' magazine's "100 Greatest Riffs Ever" feature.
==Charts== {|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1993) !Peak<br/>position |- {{single chart|Ireland2|2|artist=Therapy?|song=Shortsharpshock|rowheader=true|access-date=23 October 2023}} |- {{single chart|Sweden|22|artist=Therapy?|song=Screamager|rowheader=true|access-date=23 October 2023}} |- {{single chart|UK|9|date=19930314|rowheader=true|access-date=23 October 2023}} |- !scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/alternative-airplay/1993-10-30/|title=Alternative Airplay|magazine=Billboard|date=30 October 1993|url-access=subscription|access-date=23 October 2023}}</ref> |16 |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Therapy?}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1993 singles Category:1993 songs Category:Therapy? songs Category:Song recordings produced by Chris Sheldon Category:Songs written by Andy Cairns Category:Songs written by Michael McKeegan Category:Songs written by Fyfe Ewing Category:A&M Records singles Category:British pop punk songs