Home Counties trio COOPER BROWN'S molten hardcore pop may be resolutely out of step with the quirky post-punk brigade and the skimpy East End urchins, but somehow that seems to have merely strengthened their resolve, for second album proper "Power Without Responsibility" is arguably even angrier and more intense than their debut "Friends With The President."
Sonically, the album doesn't break a hell of a lot of new ground. The Coopers are still broadly operating in their ferocious Husker Du/ Mega City Four vein, but while they continue to play with this level of commitment and heart, then phrases involving "ain't broken" and "don't fix it" will spring to this reviewer's mind.
The lean'n'kickin' opener "Believe In The System" is a Huskers-ish buzz-pop delight of an introduction. As is often the thematic case, greed and materialism are the lyrical concerns, and the sneery "My selfishness, save me my share, why should I care?" chorus is nicely, and cynically, realised.
Cooper Brown go on to score several more typically hard-hitting body blows in the shape of songs like "Deep Red", "Bombs Away" and "Best Friend." The first of these is frantic,but controlled hardcore pop at its' best, with Bill Brown giving it his best gravel gargle, while "Bombs Away" is an effective, stinging attack on George Dubya ("Every dog will have his day/ Target now and bombs away") and the angry 'n' inflamed "Best Friend" ("My best friend is a scumbag!") could very well be a thinly-veiled attack on the Peter Doherty clones. Or not. It's effective regardless.
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None of which is to say the Coopers are afraid to venture into pastures new. Indeed, songs such as "Magnify", "Wanted: Things" and "Justice" suggest they are happy to embrace change as and when it's necessary. "Magnify" is a pleasant surprise, encompassing a lithe rhythm section, clean guitar and elements of post-punk jerkiness, while "Justice" employs acoustic guitar and a lower-watt route and "Wanted: Things" is slow, doomy and dynamically the sort of tightly-meshed melodic menace Fugazi continue to excel at.
OK, there are times when they sound like they're restlessly pacing old ground - for example, both "Netsurf Deluxe" and "I Imagined" are riffsmart and snappily predictable - but in the main "Power Without Responsibility" is seethingly intelligent and convincingly punky in its' outlook and makes a persuasive case for sticking to your guns in the long run.
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