Cop Shoot Cop - "Ask Questions Later" [1993]

Artist: Cop Shoot Cop

Title: Ask Questions Later

Genre: Post-Punk / Noise Rock / Industrial Rock

Country: USA
Year: 1993

Track List:

1. Surprise, Surprise
2. Room 429
3. Nowhere
4. Migration
5. Cut to the Chase
6. $10 Bill
7. Seattle
8. Furnace
9. Israeli Dig
10. Cause and Effect
11. Got No Soul
12. Everybody Loves You
13. All the Clocks Are Broken
14. Untitled

bonus:

1. Nowhere
2. Days Will Pass
3. We Shall Be Changed
4. Suck City
5. Fragment
6. Shine On Elizabeth

"When living is for learning, and dying is forgetting..."

 Cop Shoot Cop were a relatively well known band from New York that existed from 1987 to 1996. Their song "Room 429" was covered by Devin Townsend on the album "City" by Strapping Young Lad, and that's how most younger fans of experimental music (me including) found out about CSC:

In fact, it's my favourite track by SYL. The original song is far less heavy, but the atmosphere is still there:

And a spot-on comment from YouTube:

Moreover, it's a love song, and while my usual attitude towards love songs can be best described by the very first line in "I Hate Love Songs" by GWAR, this one is quite original and touching when it comes to lyrics:

"They were frequently classified as industrial rock, but were often quite different from many bands so dubbed. Tod A.'s lyrics were clever, snide and evocative (Art Black and David Sprague suggest that "Black humor beats black metal any day") and their "weirdly catchy" music which drew "on hot jazz and swing as much as clanging rock, emphasizing the group's stand-apart attitude."" (last.fm)

While the early, noise rock-ish albums by Cop Shoot Cop are not too easy to get into, this one (being the first album by CSC released on a big label) is probably the best in their discography along with "Release" (1994), and I certainly would recommend it anyone who's into Swans-influenced bands. You can get "Ask Questions Later", along with bonus tracks from "Suck City" and "Room 429" EPs here (by the way, that post is from 2007, yet the download links are still working).