THE COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE - KICK UP THE FIRE, AND LET THE FLAMES BREAK LOOSE

So what if The Cooper Temple Clause’s excessively named second full-length album, Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose (RCA Records), was released back in August 2003? I was in the middle of uprooting my entire life and traveling across three states to fuck around with tastes like chicken at the time, so I was too busy to review it. And besides, Insane Wayne Chinsang just gave me a copy of it last week. He was all, "Here." And then Vinnie Baggadonuts was all, "Aren’t they really hard?" And Wayne shook his head, replying, "They sound like Radiohead."
Thing is, they were both right. Yeah, there is a Radiohead-ish vibe going on in some spots, like the first song "The Same Mistakes". But then, especially in the second track (my favorite), "Promises, Promises", they crank up the guitar to eleven (one louder), and rock out with their European cocks out. It’s almost as if lazy-eyed Thom York wasn’t scared of guitars and ready-to-sing-along-with choruses. Boo-yah! Song six, "Blind Pilots", is a damn fine tune—- awesome chorus, heartfelt lyrics that are only occasionally obtuse, sincere singing, guitar riffs, some keyboard... shit, I’m listening to it right now. I totally need to start a band. What am I doing with my life?!? I should, at the very least, find the fabled Cooper Temple, and sign up-- despite any fine print Clause they might incorporate-- and become one of their acolytes or monks or whatever.
Oh, hells yeah, this album runs the gamut, from moody and synthy to fucking balls-out rock 'n' roll to dancey electronica—- sometimes in the same song. I dig it quite a lot. But, whatever I might say, I think their press release-- which I like to read out loud in a gravelly, serious voice to make my favorite lil' Serb, Vinnie, giggle-- sums it up best. And quoth the reviewer:
"Turn off the headlights. Throw away the road map. Take your hands off the wheel, and just coast, heading everywhere and nowhere. There’s a crash coming soon, oh yes, a spectacular crash; but just savor the weightlessness, the anticipation, the thrill of surrendering control. That’s what it feels like being in The Cooper Temple Clause. Every fucking day."
A little goofy. A little pretentious. And fine use of the F-bomb. Good press release. And good album. Check it out if you’re down for something a little different and eclectic.