RFI: Cooper Temple Clause

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Had heard lots about this band, but very little by until I picked up a copy of SEE THIS THROUGH AND LEAVE in a Munich disc shop (can an album with a track called "Panzer Attack" be bad? I thought not.)

What do you all think of'em,.....and who does their vocalist remind me of?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 22 October 2002 17:27 (twenty-one years ago) link

he sounds like Our Kid on 'Who Needs Enemies' - i was heard to remark at the time "this is what Oasis records should bloody sound like". i said the same today after hearing Death In Vegas 'Scorpio Rising'

blueski, Tuesday, 22 October 2002 18:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

Dear me - a mediocre early 00's indie band I ain't started a C/D thread on? I'm getting slack...

Anyway. Bit meh, to be honest, sometimes just feels like they're replacing ideas with sound effects. Got some decent stuff, though - Devil Walks In The Sand is particularly nice.

Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Tuesday, 22 October 2002 19:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

ten months pass...
Thread revive!

New single is quite good IMO, nicely aggressive and more mosh-able than most nu-metal. Hope the rest of the new LP lives up, which I think it will.

Alex, what did you think of the debut after all this time?

Simon H., Thursday, 28 August 2003 13:53 (twenty years ago) link

New single is excellent. 'See This Through...' was potentially excellent but over-production proved to be a fatal flaw. Mr Swygart is OTM about 'Devil Walks In The Sand', the best stoner song that genre never produced. They're very good live. I can see where the Gallagher/Gautrey comparisons come from - slight intonation, similar range - but disagree: Gautrey's voice is more versatile, more raspy, less nasal, less fucking annoying.

Oh - Ben Gautrey is also fucking fit.

The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:14 (twenty years ago) link

thank god other people like the new single! i was worried there was something wrong with me. it's just a great riff, no arguments, and i love the queasy/seasick chorus. let's rawk!

pete b. (pete b.), Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:18 (twenty years ago) link

Also, what's up with the five-star AMG review?

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MISS70306212330&sql=Aj3jeeat54xs7

Simon H., Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:28 (twenty years ago) link

Also, what's up with the five-star AMG review of the debut?

Simon H., Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:29 (twenty years ago) link

Also, what's up with doubleposting? Argh.

Simon H., Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:35 (twenty years ago) link

Since when are the AllMusic ratings representative of the quality of the reviewed records?

Thijs Zilverberg (zilverberg.tk), Thursday, 28 August 2003 17:37 (twenty years ago) link

That rating used to be 3 stars, and there was a diff review for the album. I schmell payola.

I thought the singles were ace, though. Agit-prop Oasis, or the Sex Pistols for the new millennium as fronted by Liam Gallagher.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Friday, 29 August 2003 22:01 (twenty years ago) link

nine years pass...

Has this band been totally and completely forgotten or what?

goya cézanne (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 28 November 2012 15:31 (eleven years ago) link

three years pass...

Definitely my favorite failed major-label rock band of the 00s.

a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 25 July 2016 03:02 (seven years ago) link

Definitely my favourite Lex post of the 00s too

imago, Monday, 25 July 2016 15:31 (seven years ago) link

two years pass...

Kick Up the Fire... is one of those records that I just need to know if Brad has heard - I was reminded of it in terms of scope while listening to the new Foxing

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 00:19 (five years ago) link

Oh I had totally forgotten that band !
Talk about 15 minutes of fame...
I think I remember liking a couple of tracks by them...

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 08:28 (five years ago) link

Checking them on Spotify : wait they released 2 albums in 2 years ??

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 08:30 (five years ago) link

there was actually a third album as well, but no-one cared.

mark e, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 09:32 (five years ago) link

third album was one of the worst albums i've ever heard and they absolutely had to go

first album has some great songs on it and the second is kind of a trip

imago, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 09:47 (five years ago) link

Third album is really not as bad as you think it is, just poorly sequenced. The label fucked it up and left the best songs as b-sides. Hence the title.

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 10:18 (five years ago) link

In fact I'm thinking about doing something I've never done before: ordering the Japanese EPs off of Discogs just to get decent-quality versions of the b-sides so I can attempt a proper re-do. Hardly any of them seem to be for sale on digital services, and unfortunately some were only ever issued on 7-inches.

Also got curious enough to check out the three vocalists' post-CTC bands. Losers are by far the most successful but seem pretty dull, soundtrack-core with EDM elements. Red Kite have sort of a Los Campesinos vibe - not bad! Type Two Error only ever seem to have released two or three songs on their Bandcamp, and of course they're the best-sounding of the lot.

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 12:53 (five years ago) link

Oh wow it sounds so Oasis like.. it belongs to the Oasis swagger thread !

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 15:36 (five years ago) link

I have to imagine you were listening to the debut.

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 16:48 (five years ago) link

New single is excellent. 'See This Through...' was potentially excellent but over-production proved to be a fatal flaw. Mr Swygart is OTM about 'Devil Walks In The Sand', the best stoner song that genre never produced. They're very good live. I can see where the Gallagher/Gautrey comparisons come from - slight intonation, similar range - but disagree: Gautrey's voice is more versatile, more raspy, less nasal, less fucking annoying.
Oh - Ben Gautrey is also fucking fit.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, August 28, 2003 7:14 AM (fourteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

id completely forgotten about this mind-bending post

( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 16:51 (five years ago) link

that's gotta be a different lex right

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 16:56 (five years ago) link

no i think it is the lex

( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 16:59 (five years ago) link

Definitely my favorite failed major-label rock band of the 00s.

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, July 25, 2016 3:02 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Definitely my favourite Lex post of the 00s too

― imago, Monday, July 25, 2016 3:31 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

imago, Tuesday, 14 August 2018 17:16 (five years ago) link

no I saw that, I just refuse to believe

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 17:17 (five years ago) link

Next week on ILX: we unearth Jeremy Corbyn's fan letters to Bernard Manning

mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 14 August 2018 19:34 (five years ago) link

IIRC there are also early Lex posts where he is a big fan of Elbow.

Tim F, Thursday, 16 August 2018 02:39 (five years ago) link

Lex is a he?

Shit i always thought he was a she

F# A# (∞), Thursday, 16 August 2018 02:49 (five years ago) link

three weeks pass...

In fact I'm thinking about doing something I've never done before: ordering the Japanese EPs off of Discogs just to get decent-quality versions of the b-sides so I can attempt a proper re-do

so absolutely no one asked for or even wants this but I've always thought the version of make this your own that has existed in my mind for years would be worth a shot for anyone who ever had an interest in this band, or in the weirder corners of british rock in general. so I did in fact order those EPs and make my own b-side rips and toyed around with a bunch of different sequences. in the end I went for a weird distended hourlongish sequence that touches on post-rock, emo, synth-pop, and one song that approaches something like digital doom metal. basically an even wilder version of Kick up the Fire... that's more tonally diverse and quite a bit looser. Anyway, hopefully anyone finds it enjoyable so I'll feel slightly less insane to have been so fixated on a set of sessions not even fans of this extremely marginal band seemed to much care about

anyway here's the sequence and, for the fuck of it, my mix/edit, w/ b-sides asterisked

theme from mayhem* / homo sapiens / damage / for the last time* / connect / pulling shapes* / head / the clan* / take comfort / what have you gone and done? / talking to pylons* / all I see is you / once more with feeling / house of cards

http://www.filedropper.com/madeityourown

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 8 September 2018 14:05 (five years ago) link

"damage" remains an absolutely baffling song and single choice but I couldn't not include it

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 8 September 2018 14:35 (five years ago) link

That was the only song I originally liked haha

Anyway this is God's work (if God is very very weird) and I'm grateful - will download and listen later!

imago, Saturday, 8 September 2018 14:56 (five years ago) link

ha thx imago, enjoy

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 8 September 2018 16:43 (five years ago) link

i have to say simon h, your dedication to the cause is admirable.
I only have the 2cd edition of their debut, and 'kick up ..' so no idea re 'damage',
but I have dropped the debut on the playlist now as it has been a very long time.
I am in the mood for synth infested guitar noise.

mark e, Saturday, 8 September 2018 17:54 (five years ago) link

I like the debut a lot but I wish the production weren't so muddy.

wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 8 September 2018 18:07 (five years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.