By Nick Romanow- Massachusetts Daily Collegian (U. Massachusetts Amherst)

(U-WIRE) AMHERST, Mass. – The stigma of being the “next big thing” is something that haunts many bands. Bands from the mediocre to the deserving are, it seem, randomly singled out by the press and crowned to be the new, hip thing to listen to. That makes it difficult to award an innovative, interesting, and above all, talented group such as the Cooper Temple Clause, with such a title. Whether or not the band will get the massive hyperbolic acclaim like The Strokes or The Vines have, there is no doubt that CTC is one of the most exciting and innovative bands in recent memory.

The band’s second LP, and the British band’s first United States release, “Kick Up The Fire And Let The Flames Break Loose” showcases the young group’s mixture of American alt-rock, Brit-pop and electronica that makes for an eclectic and ambitious sound. “Kick Up The Fire …” with its driving riffs, electro freak-outs and the best sound dynamic in 10 years, is something along the lines of ethereal space grunge.

The dreamy yet disturbed “The Same Mistakes” opens the disc and comes across as twisted lullabies by future generations raised on “Kid A”-era Radiohead with vocalist Ben Gautrey quietly warning and instructing “Can’t jump ship just yet /There’s no one at the wheel/Someone has to steer/Get a hold of yourself.”

The Coopers’ schizophrenia is immediately recognizable as the second track, “Promises, Promises,” begins with a chug-chug riff that wouldn’t be that out of place in a Stone Temple Pilots song.

In fact, the occurrence of “Temple” in both STP and CTC’s name seems like it might not be much of a coincidence. Gautrey’s voice bears a resemblance to Scott Weiland’s, and the band’s collision of almost stadium-ready alt-rock and electronic experimentation is not unlike what the result of melding STP and “12 Bar Blues,” Weiland’s solo album, would be.

Dan Fisher, the band’s lead guitarist and lyricist, explained to the Daily Collegian that CTC’s distinct style comes from their very varied influences.

“All six of us listen to completely different music, I think that’s the big influence on our sound,” he said, “like, Tom [Bellamy, who plays guitars and synthesizers] and Kieran [Mahon, the band’s keyboardist] are into electronic music whereas I’m pretty much strictly into guitar [rock].”

Fisher continues, “I think that really contributes to our sound and our sense of ambition.”

Ambition is definitely an appropriate word to use when talking about CTC. “Talking To A Brick Wall” starts out like a funeral march, complete with chanted vocals, before launching into anathematic, crunching rock.

Part of the reason that the songs on “Kick Up The Fire … ” work while many other electro-rock bands fail, is that the band knows how to balance the genres. Nothing on the album sounds overstacked, nor does anything feel lazy.

Fisher chalks that up to the band being unafraid to try anything and everything, and being egoless enough to subtract their own parts.

“We’ll try everything, we can always take things off,” he explains, “that’s kind of the difficult thing … when we load the things on the track then the art is, I guess, to know which bits to leave off, even if it’s got a really nice sound, if it muddies up the overall picture, it’s important to keep that in sight … a little individual moment can be sacrificed for the greater good of the whole track.”

CTC is capable of both wearing their influences on their sleeve and also creating something brand new, rather than relying on the past. Critics often focus on the band’s unique use of electronics and fearless experimentation, which often connects them to Radiohead, a logical but not totally accurate comparison.

“We’ve had favorable comparisons to stuff like Radiohead and Primal Scream, those are ones we get compared to a lot and they’re great, but [we’ve heard] Charlatans, Hanson, Robbie Williams, Simon ‘ Garfunkel … stuff that doesn’t make sense … we’ve stopped listening … any band that comes from Britain gets compared to Radiohead, especially ’cause there’s various different kinds of Radiohead. There’s the Radiohead that Coldplay and Travis get compared to … and there’s the more progressive and experimental Radiohead that is, what I think, we get compared to … at the end of the day you can sit and stew in it but there’s not a lot you can do about it … Radiohead’s a great band to be compared to … the thing that I worry about is people see ‘Radiohead’ [in the articles] and they think we’re gonna sound like Coldplay or Travis … it’s not in your control, really, and it’s not worth making too much time to worry about.”

Indeed, the focus on “Kick Up The Fire …” isn’t on image or attitude, like so many up-and-coming bands, but on music, which is certainly a big part of the reason that the band sticks out from the pack. CTC have no problems transitioning from the pseudo-dirge/ballad “Into My Arms” to the almost-radio-ready rock fury of “Blind Pilots”, which again recalls the STP comparisons. “New Toys” and the epic, 10-minute finale “Written Apology” have no shame and no awkwardness mutating into electronic experiments that drown out all the traditional rock elements of the music.

The band often also forgoes the more traditional pop/rock song format, in exchange for experiments in soundscapes, atmospheres, and dynamics. The band does seem to have a thing for, and a talent towards, the soft/loud dynamic. The concept, which has been around practically as long as music itself, was practically beaten in the ground by Nirvana-wannabes in the mid-’90s, but CTC is talented enough to resurrect it and use it properly, instead of overusing the effect.

“The Pixies and Nirvana were the first ones to do that kind of quiet-verse/loud-chorus thing and virtually every band since than has done a similar thing … Also, we get bored easily. We don’t like the verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, chorus structure; we have very few songs like that. We like to have as much fun within a song in as many places as possible … I think “Dirge” by Death In Vegas was another [influence]. I remember seeing an interview with Richard Fearless where he said the idea of that track was two chords and every eighth bar, add another instrument … You also have to avoid overdoing it, if every track starts off low-key and than gets bigger and bigger than you’re just doing the same thing … it’s just kinda mucking about with the tracks, it’s just our experimental nature.”

It’s the fact that CTC isn’t doing the same thing over and over, or doing anything too similar to what is happening in rock music today, that makes them such an exciting band. “Kick Up The Flames …” is, even in it’s most inconspicuous moments, so completely different from today’s “next-big-things” that it seems CTC is no doubt destined for great things.

“I guess if there’s any mission at all,” Fisher concludes, “it’s to keep reinventing ourselves, the way [David] Bowie did … and always be interesting, always be different, always try and push what we do, and take on new influences, and make sure we never get stale … standing out in the crowd is what we’re all about.”

Clearly the band knows what they want to do and “Kick Up The Flames … ” shows that it knows how to do it too.