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A lazy music journalist would simply say that the Cops sound like the Clash. Sure, you take four white guys, turn them on to dub and there’ll be songs that sound that sound like Strummer and Co., but a penchant for the sounds of Jamaica does not make a Clash cover band. Instead, you get a pop, dub and punk influenced rock band or as drummer David Weeks describes the sound, “Start, stop, scream, bleed, fidget, fall over, get up, shake off the sweat, fall down. Repeat.”
A bit over a year old, the Cops came out of Hello From Waveland. Mike Jaworski and John Randolph had been playing in the college radio pop band for years, earning much critical acclaim, when they suddenly found themselves without the necessary players in the band. Meeting up with former Kinski drummer David Weeks, they tried to push on with the band until they realized that Weeks’ rock drumming was driving the band in a heavier direction. Rounding out the band with bassist Brian Wall, they became the Cops.
Having played a ton of shows in a short amount of time, the Cops have burnt their mark all over. Jaworski’s favorite show thus far was playing “a house party at the Wolf. It was 220 degrees and we were drinking water out of the washing machine. I was sober too, fuck it was amazing.” In contrast, Weeks’ favorite show was a bit higher in profile. “There have been a lot of strong performances for us but I would probably say the SXSW show this past year. We all came very close to vomiting on stage, Mike busted his lip open during the set and none of us thought we could pull it off. With all of the other Seattle bands on the bill we could not come off like chumps. We slayed!”
With their new album, “Get Good Or Stay Bad” coming out on Mt. Fuji Records on October 18 and plans for touring, get your ass out and check out the Cops. They might not be back in town for a long time. As Weeks puts it, “I don’t know about taking over the world but I would like to get in the van with these boys for a real long time and not come back until my rent is no longer a problem every month.”
Get caught by the Cops this month: Monday, September 5, 3:15pm at Bumbershoot in the EMP Sky Church and Friday September 30 at the Sunset Tavern.
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