Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“Fuck. Finally. A band that gets the influences of ’77 and make it their own. The Cops show how to take those dusty ole albums from the 70s and run them through a time machine making their urgent cries of “Wake the fuck up…it’s 2006’ as their immortal loot and grab of the best riffs that rock’n’roll has to offer from the pasty thirty years run through their songs. Essential.” POPTONES - Poptones.uk
“It's the hedonistic air of abandon that really sells Get Good or Stay Bad. Timeless punk rock riffs, playful, groovy bass lines and simple but effective and often surprising drums do more than evoke the classic danceable punk rock of decades past; they make for a damn solid record.” SPLENDID - Splendidezine.com
“With a solid, energetic rock sound as a vehicle, The Cops have taken a stand against the forces of evil in power here at home and some of the societal woes that continue to plague the common man. With Get Good or Stay Bad, dissent and rebellion have never sounded so good.” MXDWN - MXDWN
“The Cops are pissed, and rightfully so. Orwellian swine clog the White House. Fear and depravity run amok on prime time. Citizens are color-coded red or blue. And like the Clash before them, the Cops point fingers at the antagonists with lip-curled sneers and power chords.” PORTLAND MERCURY - Portland Mercury
“On their first full-length, Get Good or Stay Bad, the Seattle punk quartet deliver their state of the union in a natural extension of late-'70s British punk. Though their guitars are tuned to 1977 London, their message is for our country today.” THE STRANGER - The Stranger
“Make no mistake, true believers, this Seattle quartet are firmly in possession of "it" — that indefinable combination of blood, sweat and sharply focused adrenaline that makes rock feel revolutionary all over again. Their full-length debut (Get Good or Stay Bad is) one of the year's best.” ISTHMUS - Isthmus
Discography
Why Kids Go Wrong (EP), March 2005, Mt. Fuji Records
Get Good or Stay Bad, November 2005, Mt. Fuji Records
New release, title TBA, out November 6th, 2007 as a split release on Mt. Fuji Records & The Control Group
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
In early 2004, John Randolph and Michael Jaworski were at a crossroads with their jointly fronted, Nuggets-informed pop band, Hello From Waveland. They had lost their drummer to a snow boarding accident and had no permanent bass player. A solid replacement was found when Randolph reconnected with college pal David Weeks, who had been drumming in a handful of projects after leaving his co-founding role in noise-rock purveyors Kinski in 2002.
After much deliberation, the band felt that its new sound and direction required a new name. Their influences ran the gamut from the Kinks to the Clash, from the Buzzcocks to Richard Hell, and incorporated elements of dub, reggae, and a pinch of Gang of Four-inspired battery. Rechristened as The Cops, they went directly to Johns basement and recorded 10 songs in 3 days.
Their first show as The Cops had them sharing a sold-out bill with The Walkmen. A few weeks later they gave a impressive performance opening up for indie-rock legends Sebadoh and their reputation for kinetic live shows continued to earn them exceptionally covetable gigs with the likes of The Kills and The Hold Steady, who eventually took them along for a West coast tour in the summer of 2005. The Cops would continue to tour over the next two years, supporting Cursive and Jeremy Enigk on national tours.
In spring of 2005, the band released a well-received debut EP entitled Why Kids Go Wrong on Seattle indie label Mt. Fuji Records and began receiving regular rotation on both the influential independent radio station KEXP and mainstream alternative station The End.
Fast forward to summer of 2006. Enter Drew Church on bass guitar. After 2 years and 110 live shows, Church (formerly with Hater, Supersuckers & Broadcast Oblivion) was enlisted as a permanent member to complete the line-up and anchor the air tight rhythm section. Brandon Bay was added in the summer of 2007 as a guitarist and mulit-instrumentalist to complete the current line-up.
Their new full-length effort (also out on Mt. Fuji in November 2005) expands upon a signature sound that is uniquely unhinged in spirit and anchored in classic punk constructs. Co-produced by the band and garage rock Jedi Master Kurt Bloch (The Fastbacks, Mudhoney, Nashville Pussy), Get Good or Stay Bad is passionately political, yet blessedly free of pretense or preachiness. Fusing the strengths of timeless, hard-rocking hooks with wry pop sensibilities, The Cops have forged a sonically unyielding, compulsive listenable record that will remind you of why you initially fell in love with punk rock the first timeand why anyone who says its dead simply isnt paying attention.
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