ROCK

Admit it, you’d forgotten this lot existed . . . or at least presumed they’d been banished along with the likes of Gay Dad and Ultrasound to the giant, death-by-hype scrapheap in the sky. After all, it was back in 2000 that they were first foisted on us as the big haired saviours of British rock, and, three years since their much under-rated second record Kick Up The Fire And Let The Flames Break Loose, didn’t do as well as everyone expected.

But The Cooper Temple Clause are back, a little battered and bruised by the industry and down one member, yet sounding better than ever, and it’s no surprise to hear they’re as gloriously out of sync with the modern musical climate as they ever were.

‘We have always been outcasts in terms of trends and fashions,’ politely spoken frontman Ben Gautrey explains from the band’s dressing room. ‘We didn’t try to sound like garage rockers or Britpop revivalists when we formed this band, all best friends aged 15. We had a desire to make the music we wanted to hear and that no-one else was making and it’s exactly the same now.’

Certainly there’s no emo or new rave tendencies on majestic third LP Make This Your Own (due out in January), and whether they’re experimenting with acoustic guitars, dark electronics, sparse beats or snarling riffs, the Reading quintet seem to have finally found the melodic oomph that was previously missing from their recorded sound. ‘Being away for a few years has definitely given us perspective, Gautrey adds. ‘When we split from our label after the second album and then Didz (Hammond) left to join Dirty Pretty Things last year it was a very uncertain time for us, but it’s made us push ourselves and progress. We’re now a lot tighter live and we can’t wait to let people hear this album. We’re very proud of it and I think this is the strongest we’ve ever felt really.’