Cooper are a Dutch version of The Descendents. Almost. While at times the band serve to be no more than a Milo and co rip-off (could ‘Sweet Precious Time’ be any more obvious?!), at least Cooper do the tribute thing pretty well. They even roped in Bill Stevenson for recording and mixing duties. I guess I’m being a little harsh, but that’s what ploughing through a review pile of CDs the size of the Congo does to you. Cooper are ok, just I’ve got a bad case of the heard-it-all-befores and it’s blemished my opinion of them.
Songs like ‘Breath of the Hangman’ and ‘C’mon Give It Up’ are chirpy melodic pop-punk songs that are pleasant enough to listen to without really burrowing into your brain. ‘The Key’ and ‘Somehow’ are good too, but there’s little to make any kind of lasting impact – the production is good, as always, but it does have that Blasting Room vibe which blends in to many of the other records Mr Stevenson has produced. As I say, there’s nothing wrong with that, or this CD, but it just gels into everything else – and that’s not the way to impress bored reviewers like me.
Paul