Cop Shoot Cop
Encyclopedia
Cop Shoot Cop was a rock music
group founded in New York City
in 1987. They disbanded in 1996. The band were frequently classified as industrial rock
, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed, with a distinctive instrumental lineup that encompassed twin bass guitars, found metal percussion, and no lead guitar. Tod A.
's lyrics were clever, snide and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor beats black metal
any day") and their "weirdly catchy" music drew "on hot jazz
and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude."
The group had little mainstream success (scoring a few hits on college radio), despite tours with Iggy Pop
and music video
s 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.
(vocals, bass guitar
), David Ouimet
(keyboards
, sampler
) and Phil Puleo
on drums
and "metal" (he incorporated various found object
s into his drum set). (Tod and Puleo had earlier played in a short-lived Providence, Rhode Island
group, Dig Dat Hole, with guitarist John 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 "Robert Tilton Handjob" from the "Piece Man" 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 (formerly bassist in early New York Hardcore
band The Undead
) 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 player 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. Their first full length album, Consumer Revolt, recorded by notable producer Martin Bisi
, 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 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 guitar
ist 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." (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", 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.
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. More recently, Coleman and Puleo have collaborated with film and theater actor and writer Michael Wiener on a project called "The Children...", releasing a selftitled CD and performing a number of show-events typically integrating projections and theatrical elements, and occurring in nontraditional venues such as multimedia dinner theaters and churches.
On their 1997 album City, Strapping Young Lad
covered "Room 429" (originally from Cop Shoot Cop's Ask Questions Later.)
In 2005, Cop Shoot Cop's "Migration" was used in a television ad for Nike
.
A later addition to the group, Michael Kaminski joined as lead guitarist, touring in Europe until the band's 1996 breakup. He continued to play music in Europe, eventually returning to his hometown of Akron, Ohio. A minor arrest there landed him in the news, and in the headlines of music blogs everywhere.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group founded in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1987. They disbanded in 1996. The band were frequently classified as industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed, with a distinctive instrumental lineup that encompassed twin bass guitars, found metal percussion, and no lead guitar. Tod A.
Tod A.
Tod Ashley is a musician better known by the stage name Tod A. He founded the rock music groups Cop Shoot Cop and Firewater, and is a singer-songwriter and bass guitarist ....
's lyrics were clever, snide and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor beats black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
any day") and their "weirdly catchy" music drew "on hot jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude."
The group had little mainstream success (scoring a few hits on college radio), despite tours with Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
and music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Headbanger's Ball and 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
(notably for "$10 Bill", featuring a number of little people
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
). They retain a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, however, and their out-of-print releases sometimes sell for large amounts among fans.
History
Initially, the group was a trio of Tod A.Tod A.
Tod Ashley is a musician better known by the stage name Tod A. He founded the rock music groups Cop Shoot Cop and Firewater, and is a singer-songwriter and bass guitarist ....
(vocals, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), David Ouimet
David Ouimet
David Ouimet is an American musician and artist. He was a band member of Cop Shoot Cop, Motherhead Bug, Firewater, and Sulfur but has since moved on to interests other than music....
(keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
) and Phil Puleo
Phil Puleo
Phil Puleo is a drummer from New York and a founding member of the band Cop Shoot Cop.-Discography:Cop Shoot CopRed ExpendablesSwansOther appearances-References:...
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
and "metal" (he incorporated various found object
Found object
A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things which occur in nature...
s into his drum set). (Tod and Puleo had earlier played in a short-lived Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
group, Dig Dat Hole, with guitarist John 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 "Robert Tilton Handjob" from the "Piece Man" 7"). Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers
Wharton Tiers is an American audio engineer, record producer, drummer and percussionist.- Biography :Diplomed from Villanova University , he moved to New York City in 1976 and was part of the No Wave scene.As an audio engineer and record producer, he has worked on projects such as Sonic Youth,...
engineered the EP.
Puleo reports their name was inspired by both the band members' shared dislike of police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officers, and a newspaper headline
Headline
The headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a...
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
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
'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
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
.
Their first performance was with Half Japanese
Half Japanese
Half Japanese is a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad and David Fair in their Coldwater, Michigan bedroom around 1975. Their original instrumentation included a small drum set, which they took turns playing; vocals; and an out of tune guitar...
.
The trio added Jack Natz (formerly bassist in early New York Hardcore
New York hardcore
New York hardcore refers to hardcore punk and metalcore music created in New York City and to the subculture associated with that music. New York hardcore grew out of the hardcore scene established in Washington, D.C., by bands such as Bad Brains and Minor Threat. Hardcore '81 is an album by the...
band The Undead
The Undead
The Undead is a horror punk band formed in 1980 in New Milford, New Jersey by Bobby Steele , Chris "Jack" Natz , and Patrick Blanck . Bobby had just been fired from his previous band, The Misfits, when forming The Undead.They released their first EP 9 Toes Later in 1982...
) 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 player 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. Their first full length album, Consumer Revolt, recorded by notable producer Martin Bisi
Martin bisi
Martin Bisi is an American producer and songwriter.He is known for recording important records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Angels of Light and Herbie Hancock's Grammy-winning song Rockit,In 1979, Martin Bisi...
, 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 short-lived Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug
Motherhead Bug was a rock music group founded in 1989 in New York City by singer and trombone player David Ouimet and bass guitarist Tony Lee.-Band history:...
and would later guest with Cop Shoot Cop, playing trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
or leading the "Motherhead Horns" horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
.
Cop Shoot Cop continued recording and touring; they surprised some fans by recruiting guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Steve McMillen for Release, released by Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
. Ned Raggett
Ned Raggett
Ned Raggett is a library assistant, freelance writer and music journalist. His work has been published in Allmusic, the OC Weekly, Plan B, Metal Edge and The Quietus, while pieces have also appeared in Dream, Arthur, as well as Stylus, The Broken Face, Fake Jazz, Freaky Trigger, Careless Talk...
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." (Still, he offers a largely positive review). A different review notes that "Tod A. is the Andrew Vachss
Andrew Vachss
Andrew Henry Vachss is an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths...
of underground rock, telling stories of pathetic losers and maniac outsiders who believe they are the sane ones", while Black and Sprague note that Release finds Cop Shoot Cop "sneaking surreptitiously toward the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
."
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.
Post Cop Shoot Cop
Tod A formed Firewater, who have released six albums. Coleman has recorded as "Phylr" and "Here" (with M. Teho Teardo), Puleo played with both Congo NorvellCongo Norvell
Congo Norvell is a band led by Kid Congo Powers and Sally Norvell. Congo Norvell formed in 1990 after Powers and Norvell met at the deathbed of a friend in Los Angeles....
and Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
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
Lubricated Goat
Lubricated Goat was an Australian noise rock band of the 1980s.They achieved brief notoriety for playing on a television program naked, wearing only their instruments and shoes...
. Coleman and Puleo have worked together on a project called Audio Dyslexia. More recently, Coleman and Puleo have collaborated with film and theater actor and writer Michael Wiener on a project called "The Children...", releasing a selftitled CD and performing a number of show-events typically integrating projections and theatrical elements, and occurring in nontraditional venues such as multimedia dinner theaters and churches.
On their 1997 album City, Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
covered "Room 429" (originally from Cop Shoot Cop's Ask Questions Later.)
In 2005, Cop Shoot Cop's "Migration" was used in a television ad for Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
.
A later addition to the group, Michael Kaminski joined as lead guitarist, touring in Europe until the band's 1996 breakup. He continued to play music in Europe, eventually returning to his hometown of Akron, Ohio. A minor arrest there landed him in the news, and in the headlines of music blogs everywhere.
Studio Albums
| Date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Consumer Revolt Consumer Revolt Consumer Revolt is the full-length debut of the Experimental band Cop Shoot Cop.- Track listing :# "Low.Com.Denom." - 2:21# "She's Like A Shot" - 3:46# "Waiting for the Punchline" - 3:46# "Disconnected 666" - 2:18# "Smash Retro!" - 1:42... |
Circuit |
| 1991 | White Noise White Noise (Cop Shoot Cop album) -Personnel:Cop Shoot Cop*Tod Ashley – vocals, bass guitar, guitar* Jim Coleman – sampler*Jack Natz – bass guitar, vocals*Phil Puleo – drums, percussionAdditional musicians and production*Martin Bisi – production, engineering, mixing... |
Big Cat Big Cat Records Big Cat Records is a UK record label. It launched around 1990 and originally specialized in industrial and noise-rock releases. Operated a US office in NYC for a few years. Purchased by V2 Records in 1996, at which point their roster became much more diverse in style... |
| 1993 | Ask Questions Later Ask Questions Later - Accolades :- Personnel :Cop Shoot Cop* Tod Ashley – vocals, bass guitar, drums* Jim Coleman – sampler, mixing* Jack Natz – bass guitar, drums* Phil Puleo – drums, percussionAdditional musicians and production... |
Interscope Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:... |
| 1994 | Release Release (Cop Shoot Cop album) -Personnel:Cop Shoot Cop*Tod Ashley – vocals, bass guitar*Jim Coleman – sampler, piano*Steven McMillen – guitar, trumpet*Jack Natz – bass guitar, vocals, harmonica*Phil Puleo – drums, percussionAdditional musicians and production... |
Interscope |
Splits and EPs
| Date | Title | Label | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Headkick Facsimile | Supernatural Organization | 12″ Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... |
Rereleased in 1994 on cassette with a song from the Piece Man 7″ |
| 1989 | PieceMan EP PieceMan EP PieceMan EP is a three-song EP released by the Experimental band Cop Shoot Cop in 1989. The record was limited to only 1000 pressings. However, the songs "Disconnected 666" and "Eggs for Rib" would be rerecorded for their debut album while "RBT. Tilton Handjob" would appear on the 1994 re-issue of... |
Vertical | 7″ | Cover spattered with pig's blood |
| 1989 | Live at CBGB CBGB CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the... |
cassette | 300 copies, Japanese release | |
| 1992 | Helmet vs. Cop Shoot Cop | Micro Records | 7″ | Bootleg Bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging... split with Helmet Helmet (band) Helmet is an alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989. Founded by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton, Helmet has had numerous lineup changes, and Hamilton has been the only constant member.... |
| 1992 | Suck City Suck City -Personnel:Cop Shoot Cop*Tod Ashley – vocals, bass guitar*Jim Coleman – sampler*Jack Natz – bass guitar*Phil Puleo – drums, percussionAdditional musicians and production*Martin Bisi – production, mixing... |
Interscope | ||
| 1996 | Dick Smoker Plus | Fused Coil | 7″, CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Split with Meathead Meathead (band) -Members:Mauro Teho Teardo , Deison , G.No , V.Dunmore , Nicky , Matt Wayne Rooney... |
Singles
| Date | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "$10 Bill" | Interscope | CD |
| 1993 | "Room 429" | Interscope | CD |
| 1994 | "Two at a Time" | Big Cat | CD |
| 1995 | "Any Day Now" | Big Cat | CD |
Compilation Appearances
| Date | Title | Track | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Johnny Mnemonic (Motion Picture Soundtrack) | "3 AM Incident" | Columbia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... |
CD |
| 1994 | S.F.W. S.F.W. S.F.W. is a 1994 film directed by Jefery Levy. It is based on a novel by Andrew Wellman, and stars Stephen Dorff, Jake Busey and Reese Witherspoon, in one of her first lead roles.-Plot:... (Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
"Two at a Time" | A&M A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:... |
CD |
| 1990 | New York Eye & Ear Control | "Dive" | Matador Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have... |
CD |