Cooper Temple Clause

It has to be said that as a live venue, Concorde 2 has style. So yes, it's a little out of the way, but I actually think that makes it a little more special; it's just out of town enough to keep away the rampant stag-do crowds at least.

This former Victorian tea-rooms even has it's own lift. It also has a lift attendant. It is this person's responsibility to make sure that the sunday all-day Ska Punk Rude Boy crowd make it to the first floor balcony in time to sick-up that one too many pints of cider. Arriving early for a gig last year, he gave me a guided tour. The lift used to be powerd by hydrolics. Brilliant. All of this is of course lost on tonight's crowd. Tonight, Concorde 2 is much more of a 'modern youth' venue it seems.

You see, I'm of a generation that is just old enough to be amused by the way that today's indi kids look like Casuals / Townies, and the Churchill Square kids look like Sid Vicious on a boating trip.

Tonight's crowd is all ankle-length tights and dodgy mod-hairdresser feather cuts. Some drunken teen trustafari forces his way through the crowd with a blind urgency that I'm sure is in some way meant to be 'Straight Edge' rather than just fucking rude. Chubby Emo Mod (Emod?) lads sing the lyrics into your ears in a manner that is charmingly crass too. Venturing backstage, I can't help noticing that the groupies all look like Djave 'Dave' Bikinus from the Nathan Barley show.

iLiKETRAiNS do a superb line in echoey Cocteau Twinsian / Mirroconial guitar dronage, with some suitably tragic / dirgey Michael Gira / Nick Cave style vocals looming around the sidings. It's very, very refreshing to see a band working in this area, but, they only have this one idea. And they have beards. OK, so if you are going to be tragic and droney in a 'it's not Goth it's Neo Folk' way, it probably helps to have beards, and tunics. And yes, the whole British Rail vibe is a bit of a twist on the whole 'bands in dress uniform tip'. But they may as well have played their one song-structure for the entire set and milked the dynamic over half an hour.

They also have a horn player. We are politely told it's a "French Horn actually" in an accent that is Posh Student Leeds, if it's Leeds at all - and again, I'm sure, absolutely, that doesn't make them at all goth in any way as well. And not that it really matters, because he is virtually inaudible anyway. But the drummer is audible, and brilliant, mapping out some distinctive tom-heavy grooves, adding some much needed dynamism to the shimmering dirge. It's all very Swans / Godspeedy, and at the end of the day, I'm of the opinion that there isn't enough Drone Rock in the world, so bring it on. Yes, it's called Drone Rock people, and it's Punker than Punk. Or at least more Punk than Punker. Even if you have a beard. Why use three chords when one chord will do?

With Brit Pop Survivors Cooper Temple Clause, or 'The Coop' as I've decided to call them, there is a hint of 'comeback' in the air, but after tonight's set I think I can also hear a whisper of 'triumphant return' too.

Attitude. It's like arrogance, but it makes you feel safe rather than sick. It's like finding out that the school bully is gay, really into Morrisey, tattoos, existentialism and Grant Morrison.

Cooper Temple Clause. They're pretty, they're nicely turned out, they throw all the right shapes, and for whatever reason - maybe, just maybe, it's because they actually have decent / ecclectic / cool taste in music, they seem to have survived the whole ugly 'isn't it great it's like the 60's all over again' Brit-Pop nonsense, and retained some credibility in the process.

Yeah, it was a lot like the 60's, in the sense that the journalists and musicians and industry goons responsible were all acting like the last 30 years was just a silly phase we were all going through.

Right now, The Coop are a real living post-modern rock band. They infuse elements of acid rock, power metal and unhinged electronic noise
with more than a hint of 70's Bowie / Glam / Mod-Fi swagger. Combined with a three-man strong vocal presence and some subtle (maybe too
understated) programming / sequencing, The Coop deliver a varied and powerful live-set. It's all only slightly let down by a lack of any real hooks or maybe just one more decent singalong chorus. But that's a minor chritisism and ultimately there isn't enough of this 'we're not scared of synths and grooves and holding back on the blues licks every now and again' stuff in the world. There is also enough John Lydon, Killing Joke and Hawkwind going on in this band's gene pool to justify their return to form. The Cooper Temple Clause make you see just how wrong Oasis were; what Oasis could
have been, but thankfully never were. After all, I'm sure we're all glad that Robbie Williams never discovered bass end, acid, sequencers or a sense of humour.

Rollo Kim.