I thought about putting an asterisk in the title to this post. You know, to make it less offensive. Because if we are to go by internet usage, there is a large group of people in this world who are repelled by seeing the written phrase "The Fucking Cops", and yet with a simple modification, viz: "The F*cking Cops", their panties remain magically unsoiled. If I were really clever I'd have done the heading something like: "The Fuck*ng Cops", and sought feedback on its offensiveness. I don't know, maybe that's not so clever.
When I was young, profanity was all I needed. "Bodies" by the Sex Pistols is a great song in and of itself, but given its lyrics, it could have been sung by the Eagles and I'd have worn out the grooves on my copy of it. Now I've got kids, and although there's pretty much zero censorship of music amongst the family unit, when it comes to sexual or scatological band names, I get a little squirrelly. And when you mix the two? Well, you get bands like Ass Ponys, and I must cop to never having bought an Ass Ponys record.
The point here, belatedly arrived at, is that now that I'm supposed to be mature and everything, a band that has a cuss name had better be damned good, and there's this Cleveland punk rock band called the Fucking Cops that's a whole lot better than damned good. Last week they released their second EP, "Fuck You Up With Some Truth", and in the middle of a bunch of other good music being released by good bands, I cannot stop listening to it.
Here's the video from the second of the six songs, "Sweating or Freezing". Awesome song, Blatz beer, High on Fire poster, and backward tape loops that are no doubt satanic earn it the WYMA seal of approval.
There aren't any other videos or live recordings from this EP, but trust me on this, every tune is terrific. Crunching guitars underneath non-ostentatious, solo-Mould-esque leads, a very high functioning rhythm section, good vocals and great group shouting (maybe tone down a bit of the angst in the lyrics, but what the hell am I doing listening for the lyrics anyway?).
My favorite tune, and, really, maybe my favorite song I've heard this year, is "For Whom the Taco Bell Tows". This is authentic minor key punk rock, redolent of some of the best efforts of Japandroids (but with a nice guitar solo as a bonus). Go to the bandcamp site and check out that song. Then buy this and their very strong EP from last year, "You Have the Right to Shut the Fuck Up." Here's a video for a great song from that record, "Paycheck", which offers a nice panorama of their hometown, including a stagedive into Lake Erie. Cleveland is a very cool place, and these guys should make it fucking proud.
The Fucking Cops on bandcamp
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