Re-posted with
permission from 411mania.com.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try
again for me.”
The Cooper Temple Clause – “Talking
To A Brick Wall”

Supposedly, The Cooper Temple Clause –
who’s Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
was released on RCA Records on February 24 – have yet to learn
how to properly play their instruments. In fact, this claim
is repeated over and over in their press materials. Well,
either this is a publicist’s clever attempt to under-hype
the band as their sophomore album hits stores, or producer/engineer
Dan Austin and/or Chris Blair and the folks at Abbey Road
Studios responsible for mastering the CD are geniuses. Or
perhaps it’s a little bit of both. Either way, Kick Up
The Fire sounds great, doesn’t let up from track one ’til
the end, and kicks your ass from all angles.

“The Same Mistakes” and “Promises, Promises”
start things off with some rockin’ goodness, channeling the
spirit of Sunny Day Real Estate at its least whiniest. But
the album kicks into another gear with “New Toys,” as trippy
keyboards and a techno-like rhythm carry Ben Gautrey’s sneering
vocals through the first track where TCTC finally show off
their… well, their new toys of course.

“Talking To A Brick Wall” is by far the
album’s best song. It begins like something penned by late/post-Beatles-era
George Harrison, singing “small things about you excite me
but then I’d hate to spoil the tone.” Then that tone changes
– for the better – as you get pulled into the heavier, driving
chorus. The handclaps on two and four that guide the song
to its end as it fades out are nothing; after hearing this
track for the first time, I wanted to applaud my CD player.

Unfortunately, like so many albums these
days, Kick Up The Fire loses some of its luster midway
through. I don’t know what Gautrey is singing about on “Into
My Arms” and don’t care, even though the final ¼ of the song
is industrial, pounding and moderately interesting. You can’t
fault them for changing things up a bit, and the fact that
they’re so willing to play around with different sounds and
styles is what made me dislike “Blind Pilots” for being nothing
but a harmless, yet typical, garage-rock tune (sure, the lead
singer went to the same Swiss school as The Strokes, but we
have enough Strokes, thank you very much).

“A.I.M” – at track six – brings the album
back in the right direction. Once the opening groove kicks
in, make sure to pay attention, ’cause TCTC is about to take
you on a ride. “Music Box” is playful and angry (although
I wish he’d just scream his ass of Trent Reznor-like ’cause
ya just know he wants to); “In Your Prime” is basically a
short interlude, and by the time you get through “Written
Apology,” you might just have to smoke a cigarette.

Conclusion: Kick Up The Fire,
And Let The Flames Break Loose isn’t the perfect album,
but a fun ride, and definitely nothing The Cooper Temple Clause
needs to apologize for.

Final Score (1-10):
7

Past Till
My Head Falls Off columns can
be found in the archives to the right, and on 411
Music (archived in the pull-down menu at the bottom
of each column).

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