Crocodile Shop

Basically a duo of Mick Hale and V. Markus, Crocodile Shop formed in Berlin in 1987 with a strong affinity for post-punk melancholy, courtesy of Joy Division and Wire. After a 1988 LP named Lullaby (produced by the Chameleons' Dave Fielding), the duo became more influenced by '80s-style anger, through bands such as Skinny Puppy and the Wax Trax! roster. The 1989 Measure by Measure EP was their first to use drum machines and the occasional sample; the band made their influences implicit by then working with a Wax Trax! mainstay, Sister Machine Gun's Chris Randall, for their second full-length, released on the Tinman label as Celebrate the Enemy. After a remix LP titled Crush Your Enemies, Hale and Markus added live drummer Len 9 and signed to Metropolis Records. By 1996, the trio released Beneath, and just one year later, Pain. Order and Joy followed in 2000. ~ John Bush