Bad Lieutenant

In 2007 guitarist Bernard Sumner, whose résumé already included Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic, assembled Bad Lieutenant, the group taking its name directly from Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film that starred Harvey Keitel. Joining him were guitarist Phil Cunningham (Marion, New Order) and vocalist Jake Evans (Rambo & Leroy). After New Order’s formal dissolution, Sumner’s longtime associate Stephen Morris and Blur’s Alex James contributed to the sessions for the debut album Never Cry Another Tear, released on Triple Echo in October 2009 and previewed the month before by the single “Sink or Swim.” Around the single’s appearance the band began performing live with Morris—explicitly described as not a full member—on drums and Tom Chapman on bass.