The Cops

The album covers and promo shots for Sydney band the Cops often feature one of the many swords from frontman Simon Carter's personal collection. It's an appropriate symbol for the band, which cuts through the boundaries between rock's subgenres with all the ease of someone wielding a katana. The group formed in 2003 when Carter played some of his home-basement demos for keyboardist/bass player Rebecca Darwon, formerly of the Fireflyes. She was so impressed by the songs she insisted they form a band straightaway, also insisting that she choose the group's name. Around this core the original lineup formed, including James Storrier, Andrew Gilbert, and Nick Kennedy. A year later they released a debut EP and then an album, Stomp on Tripwires, through the aptly named independent label Love Police Records and Tapes. Though the album was a success, spawning the radio- and dancefloor-friendly single "Wallet/Puffer/Smokes/Keys" and being named Carl Barat's favorite international album of the year in the NME, the band fractured soon after. Storrier, Gilbert, and Kennedy all left, citing lifestyle pressures and differing opinions about musical direction. The core of Carter and Darwon remained. Along with previously recruited keyboardist Todd Smith, the second lineup added Jarrod Murphy on guitar/backing vocals and Nicholai Danko on drums. This lineup signed to the Inertia label to release a second EP, 80 in the Shade, in 2006. 80 in the Shade marked a new direction for their sound, with more of the genre-hopping playfulness that saw them skirting the edges of disco, electro, funk, and other retro sounds. In 2007 they released their second album, Drop It in Their Laps, recorded mainly at the Electric Avenue Studio, which was the apotheosis of this sound. Lead single "Call Me Anytime," featuring sky-surfing cyberpunk samurais in its film clip, landed at number 33 in the national JJJ Hottest 100 poll, fulfilling one of Carter's longtime dreams. ~ Jody Macgregor