Therapy? is one of the most successful outside-of-the-mainstream punk/indie-metal groups of the ‘90s. The Belfast group formed at the very beginning of the grunge era, keeping a question mark as part of the group's name, underlining, perhaps, their ambivalence about musical ways of expression. Their latest album, "Shameless," was recorded after a two-year hiatus and released in Russia last week.

Therapy?'s front man, Andy Cairns, answered some questions in an exclusive telephone interview about the new album and the group's plans for coming to Russia next year.

What's changed in your music since the last album?

Well, everyone who knows the band knows that all our records are actually quite different. We've been trying various things on every record. I think with this one really we didn't want to try and push the frontiers of music; we just wanted to have a bit of fun. This is sort of just a straightforward punk/rock-‘n'-roll record. It's got little short songs on it, it's got riffs, it's got choruses…

So, are you guys feeling young again?

Well, actually, I've always felt like a terrible teenager. You mean that our "Infernal Love" album in 1995 was really depressing? Well, that was because everything was done under such stress.

We had been on tour for a year and a half, we only had two weeks off – plus we didn't have anything new written. The whole album was written and conceived in the studio. That's not a good idea.

We did this album in Seattle, because the producer lives there. So I think that was a good idea, going to the States.

I mean, it can be pretty depressing living in England all the time. It's such a small country; the radio over here is terrible; and the music scene is getting really bad.

Hasn't there been anything music-wise that really gripped you recently?

The new Rocket from the Crypt album. Also, there are two groups that have really blown me away: The Murder City Devils from Seattle and a band from San Francisco called Zen Gorilla – a bunch of cool ex-punk rockers playing a kind of blues with real energy.

Do you consider yourself an "ex-punk rocker"?

I don't know. I still have a little bit of that attitude. But I'm probably too old now for the trousers. Basically, punk was the first thing that got me into music. And the Ramones are actually our all-time favorite band.

So when are you coming to Russia?

We really want to come. We'll start touring next year and hope to come then. We actually planned to come in 1995. But I had a really, really terrible throat and we had to cancel the show. We regretted not coming. We've had a lot of correspondence and e-mails from people there.

Do you think this album is geared more to the old Therapy? fans or are you counting on a younger generation?

I don't really know. Looking at our fan Websites, I see that some of our younger Therapy? fans are a bit confused by the record, because it's too old-fashioned in places. We decided a long time ago that we weren't going to make records for anybody but ourselves. When you start writing to a formula, or when you start creating music and simultaneously thinking "Oh well, it should sound like this," then it gets to be like making furniture. You lose all sense of creative freedom, because you have to be constantly thinking, "Will they like this?" At the end of the day, you have to play what you like. Otherwise you won't be really into it, and at concerts you'll simply be regurgitating the songs.