Cop Shoot Cop

Cop Shoot Cop was a rock music group founded in New York City in 1987 and disbanded after their final release in 1994. They were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed, due to Tod A.'s clever, snide and evocative lyics, and their "weirdly catchy" music which drew "on hot jazz and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude." http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:eiaxlfhe5cqy~T1 The group had little mainstream success, despite tours with Iggy Pop and Nine Inch Nails and music videos on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. They retain a cult following, however, and their out-of-print releases sometimes sell for rather high amounts among fans.

History

Initially, the group was a trio of Tod A. (vocals, bass guitar), David Ouimet (keyboards, sampler) and Phil Puleo on drums. (Tod and Puleo had earlier played in a short-lived Providence, Rhode Island group, Dig Dat Hole.) Puleo reports their name was inspired by both the bandmembers' shared dislike of police officers, and a newspaper headline about a botched police raid, reading "'Cop Shot Cop' or maybe it was 'Cop Shoots Cop.'" http://www.thepolywog.com/copshootcop/other/risefall.html The trio placed a number of posters stating only "CopShootCop" around New York, which helped generate discussion and interest; some observers reportedly though the posters were a political protest against police brutality. Their first performance was with Half Japanese. The trio added Jack Natz on bass guitar, and Tod breifly sang without playing bass. They missed Tod's distinctive "high end" bass playing, however, and they realized only popular convention required a single bass guitarist in a rock band, and both Tod and Natz decided to play the instrument with the group. The relative novelty of a dual-bass, no-guitar rock group certainly helped gather attention. Natz sang occasionally, but Tod remained the group's primary singer and songwriter. Ouimet rejoined and left the group several times; Jim Coleman was recruited to replace him on sampler, and both men were in the group for their debut recording, Consumer Revolt, probably the only dual-bass, dual-sampler, no-guitar album in rock music's history. After the first album and tour, Ouimet left for good: he founded the intriguing, short-lived Motherhead Bug and would later guest with Cop Shoot Cop, playing trombone or leading the Motherhead Horns horn section. Cop Shoot Cop continued recording and touring; they surprised some fans by recruiting guitarist Steve MacMillian for Release, released by Interscope Records. One review notes that "Tod A. is the Andrew Vachss of underground rock, telling stories of pathetic losers and maniac outsiders who believe they are the sane ones". http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/1994-11-03/music4.html The band dissolved a year or so after Release. Tod claimed the group had been treated poorly by Interscope, and refused to let the company to issue their final album. The other band mambers disagreed, noting the album was very nearly complete, and that they had all worked on the $150,000 recording sessions. Tod A formed Firewater, who have released four albums. The remainder of Cop Shoot Cop regrouped as The Red Expendables and recorded a record, hoping to interest record companies. Coleman has recorded as Phylyr, and Puleo played with Swans.

Discography

  • 1989 PieceMan
  • 1990 Consumer Revolt
  • 1991 White Noise
  • 1993 Ask Questions Later
  • 1994 Release

External Links

*ThePolywog.com: Cop Shoot Cop

 

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