Cop Shoot Cop
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- For other uses, see Cop Shoot Cop (disambiguation).
Cop Shoot Cop was a rock music group founded in New York City in 1987 and disbanded in 1996.
They were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed. Tod A.'s lyrics were clever, snide and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor beats black metal any day"[1]) and their "weirdly catchy" music which drew "on hot jazz and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude." [2]
The group had little mainstream success (scoring a few hits on college radio), despite tours with Iggy Pop and music videos on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and 120 Minutes (notably for "$10 Bill", featuring a number of little people). They retain a cult following, however, and their out-of-print releases sometimes sell for large amounts among fans.
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[edit] History
Initially, the group was a trio of Tod A. (vocals, bass guitar), David Ouimet (keyboards, sampler) and Phil Puleo on drums and "metal" (he incorporated various found objects into his drum set). (Tod and Puleo had earlier played in a short-lived Providence, Rhode Island group, Dig Dat Hole, with guitarist Jon Rose.) The A./Puleo/Ouimet lineup was captured on the "Headkick Facsimile" 12" EP, which was released in a small pressing by the Japanese record label Supernatural Organization in 1989 (later reissued by the group's own Subvert Entertainment in 1994 with the addition of the song Roberty Tilton Handjob from the Pieceman 7"). Wharton Tiers engineered the EP.
Puleo reports their name was inspired by both the band members' 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.'" Another possible explanation for the band's moniker is what is described as a "junkie's to do list:" "cop" (obtain drugs, especially heroin) "shoot" (Inject the drugs)" and "cop" again.
The trio placed a number of posters stating only "CopShootCop" around New York, which helped generate discussion and interest; some observers reportedly thought 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 briefly 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, and various members wrote songs, 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, the "Piece Man" 7" in 1989. The single's cover was spattered with real pig's blood, gaining them some notoriety in record collecting circles. Consumer Revolt, their first full length, is probably the only dual-bass, dual-sampler, no-guitar album in rock music's history. The band quickly earned a reputation as one of the best live bands in NYC, as well as for prolific band graffiti.
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 McMillen for Release, released by Interscope Records. Ned Raggett argues that McMillen's appearance "Given how Cop Shoot Cop had evolved its own unique sound out of the basses, drums, and samplers from the original members, becoming more of a straight-ahead rock group inevitably made the band a little less special."[3] (Still, he offers a largely positive review). A different 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", [4] while Black and Sprague note that Release finds Cop Shoot Cop "sneaking surreptitiously toward the mainstream."
The band dissolved a year or so after Release. Tod claimed the group had been treated poorly by Interscope, and refused to allow the company to issue their final album. The other band members disagreed, noting the album was very nearly complete, and that they had all worked on the $150,000 recording sessions. The remaining members of Cop Shoot Cop attempted to complete the album, but Interscope declined to release the material. It eventually found an outlet in the Red Expendables album.
[edit] Post CSC
Tod A formed Firewater, who have released four albums. Coleman has recorded as Phylr and Here (with M. Teho Teardo), Puleo played with both Congo Norvell and Swans as well as his solo project The Wog, and Jack Natz most recently teamed up with Stu Spasm to handle bass duties for a reformed Lubricated Goat. Coleman and Puleo have worked together on a project called Audio Dyslexia.
[edit] Discography
- 1989 Headkick Facsimile 12" EP (rereleased in 1994 on cassette with a song from the Pieceman 7")
- 1989 Piece Man 7" (cover spattered with pig's blood)
- 1989 Live at CBGB's (official cassette, 300 copies, Japanese release)
- 1990 New York Eye & Ear Control (one CSC song on a compilation)
- 1990 Consumer Revolt
- 1991 White Noise
- 1992 Split 7" (with Helmet; bootleg)
- 1992 Suck City EP
- 1993 Ask Questions Later
- 1993 $10 Bill CD single
- 1993 Room 429 CD Single
- 1994 Release
- 1994 Two At a time CD Single
- 1995 Any Day Now CD Single
- 1995 Johnny Mnemonic Soundtrack (one CSC song on a motion picture soundtrack)
- 1996 Dick Smoker Plus (Split 7"/CD with Meathead)
