Biography
New York City's Cop Shoot Cop took their deliberately provocative and polarizing moniker from the outset. The group traces its roots to the grimmer undercurrents of the early-'80s no wave scene, which spawned abrasive, confrontational, and socially hostile yet frequently compelling acts including Mars, DNA, and Teenage Jesus & the Jerks. Like those earlier outfits, the Cops reject any pull toward pop conventions and instead cultivate a dense, rattling, thunderous, metallic texture built around their signature two-bass, no-guitar lineup. Their lyrics generally traffic in blunt apocalyptic pronouncements, a tendency the band frequently overemphasizes. On the occasions when this bleak approach lands, the result proves strangely gripping though somewhat unsettling, saturated with familiar strains of modern city-bred malaise such as anomie, alienation, and ennui. Layered atop these foundations are irregular time signatures, the abrasive shouting of low-end bassist Natz (who refuses to label it singing), and excursions into unfiltered noise, yielding an anti-rock posture that stays furious, menacing, and visceral even amid its looping patterns. Notwithstanding the music's fundamental resistance to mainstream appeal and the group's explicit rejection of corporate major labels, they nonetheless secured a deal with Interscope Records, an affiliate of the Atlantic umbrella. Even after their subsequent releases adopted a somewhat more approachable tone, Cop Shoot Cop continue to register as an acquired taste, including among listeners drawn to raw and unyielding rock.
Albums
