Sonic temple

Drinking, fighting, puking and swearing are, as we all know, the true hallmarks of a legitimate rock act and it seems The Cooper Temple Clause have discovered the formula for success. In true rock star fashion, it is their offstage reputation that seems to precede them. Take this year’s Q awards for example, where a few of the lads landed themselves in the can.

“It was a strange night,” says CTC bassist Didz Hammond in a sly tone. “Strange things happened… some people got a little bit wasted.”

Pray tell.

“We got the train up and that started off badly ‘cos I was sick twice out of the train window,” admits Hammond. “We got there and it was all well and good but we said some things we shouldn’t probably have to journalists and kind of trotted off into the night. The rest of it is shrouded in mystery and inebriation.”

What did you say?

“Probably overuse of the word quim.”

What does quim mean exactly?

“Uh, quim is, um, a lady’s part. They were asking us what ‘Q’ stood for and it was just the first thing that came into our heads.”

Between brawls, temporary imprisonments and general drunken debauchery, Reading’s own rock swashbucklers still managed to release last years unashamedly gritty opus, See This Through And Leave, a distortion-heavy grunge bath with electronically-layered panache. After tearing through last year’s Witnness festival, the six-member group is set to return to Ireland at the end of this month for a Whelan’s show. Fans can look forward to a worthy helping of music, including recently recorded material for their new album.

“With the first album there wasn’t too many times when you got that feeling in your belly about something being really, really good but this time it’s been pretty much on every track,” explains Hammond. “We’re really looking forward to playing it live and really looking forward to seeing what other people think of it because we’re chuffed.”

Do you think most fans will appreciate what you have done with the newer stuff?

“I hope so,” says Hammond. “We always seem to get in fights when we go to Newcastle but we always seem to play pretty well there.” According to Hammond, the band’s most recent trip ended in a scrum – with a group of paratroopers outside a bar.

“What ended up happening was that I had on these cowboy boots and I got dragged down the street by them on my stomach.”

What for?

“I didn’t stop to ask and they weren’t really in a telling mood so it went left unsaid.”