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The Cooper Temple Clause 'Kick Up The Fire...'
Young men form bands, at least in part, to inflate their sexual currency - everyone knows that being in a band is a bit of a knicker-dropper. The Cooper Temple Clause must be well chuffed, then, to have such a sizeable and devoted female following. A little too sizeable?
Critics - often male, and without a fanclub - have sourly suggested that, as so many teenage girls like them, they must be Blue with guitars. Boys would certainly be ill-advised to leave their girlfriends alone with any of the perfectly-tousled Coopers but this, their second album, proves there's more to them than pretty faces and good hair. The opening 'The Same Mistakes' is a case in point, Didz's bass brooding like 'Mezzanine'-era Massive Attack, Ben Gautrey's rueful vocal a tale of repetitious error counter-pointed by violin. When Gautrey tremulously acknowledges to his lost love that "you were made an offer/you could not refuse ", it's clear The Cooper Temple Clause have grown up;they weren't capable of a song possessed of such maturity and melancholy until now. It's a rare example of successful, if unconscious, troubleshooting by a band - a dose of sobriety was just what CTC needed. Their 2002 debut 'See This Through and Leave' showed a nascent songwriting ability and an on-off relationship with ballsy riffs. But throughout there was a fussy twee-ness and a sickly overdose of emotion - they were indeed a bit toogirly. A year on, they've replaced the theatrics of their debut with a passionate gravitas, nowhere more so than on 'Promises Promises', the first single, which sees them finally commit to the full-on rock they made cow-eyes at on 'Panzer Attack', with some Metallica-like chugging chords and a huge, amphetamine-jagged chorus. It just blows you away - pure guitar nirvana.. The Coopers have always made judicious use of electronics too, and they continue to do so here. 'Into My Arms', with its hip hop-like beats and 'New Toys', which hints at 'Kid A'-era Radiohead, while not Aphex Twin, show them to be that rarest of breeds, a band equally at home with synths as guitars. Not many would have predicted it, but The Cooper Temple Clause have made one of the albums of the year. Sorry girls, but it looks like you're going to have to take the boyfriend to the next Coopers' gig.
The Cooper Temple Clause 'Kick Up The Fire And Let The Flames Break Loose' (Morning) Released September 8 2003.
This review originally appeared in X-Ray magazine.
Tagged as The Cooper Temple Clause, archive
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