Lesson one: High school never ends. That fact, at least, is no different for rock stars than for mere mortals. Just like cool seniors invariably view overachieving juniors with a mix of wariness and condescension, so too must established, critically venerated rock bands look at their fresher-faced competitors with suspicion. And right now, Coldplay are in roughly the position Radiohead were in four years ago, when the latter released their breakthrough album, ''OK Computer'': They're the young Brits with the buzz, the band that hipsters are rushing to claim as their own, a soulfully smart group that's mixing art and pop and rock in judicious, satisfying measures. Coldplay -- who take their name from a book of poetry, ''Child's Reflections, Cold Play'' -- haven't yet gone all difficult and challenging on us, as Radiohead did with ''Kid A'' and ''Amnesiac.'' ''Our aim is to be a big pop band,'' admits Martin. With two terrific, subtly hooky albums under their belts, the four are succeeding admirably.
As for Thom ''Cold Shoulder'' Yorke -- well, as Martin says, ''all our other favorite bands, like U2 and Oasis, have been great to us.'' Take that, Kid T.
