5 out of 5

Label: Interscope

Produced by: Dave Sardy

As he did with Helmet, as he did with Far, as he did with his own band Barkmarket, Sardy’s productions from the mid 90s almost universally either sharpened a band’s existing sound or broadened the palette that those with already-impressive chops had at their disposal.  Cop Shoot Cop is definitely an example from the latter pile: Tod A. and crew had proven their dedication to the trashy New York underground funk sound, as well as aligning themselves with the sneering anti-whatever cynical stance of the like-minded Spongehead and Barkmarket.  In other words: CSC could already blow your ears off.  With the group gaining some ground on Interscope and the addition of guitarist Steve McMillen to their notable 2-pass / drums sound plus bringing in the bolstered-resume Sardy to produce, ‘Release’ might’ve gotten the askance glance from fans at the time, questioning if this was the anarchic group they’d come to know.

Yeah, yes it is.

This was essentially Tod A.’s first step toward Firewater, turning his snarl into more of a grimace and allowing himself some balladry along with the throaty grumbles.  And Sardy / CSC were smart enough to not play up the guitar beyond a supporting sound: stomping bass and rums still rule the day on ‘Release,’ something which plays incredibly well to Sardy’s meaty, live production sound – and dare I say strengthens the trashy clash the band had perfected on previous discs, where less ideal levels played up the noise but not the rhythm.  The lyrics don’t cover anything too surprising for the band, but Ashley adds enough inventiveness consistently to prevent things from getting eye-rolling, and he excels at finding something surprisingly heartbreaking amidst the mire – such as ‘Lullaby’ – or swinging the list of complaints into something worth a smile – such as on ‘Any Day Now.’  This is just part of ‘Release’s overall listenability, which is sequenced effectively to spread out toe-tapping funk like the opener ‘Interference’ with the more early-CSC-esque ‘Slackjaw’ or ‘Suckerpunch.’  It’s a very well-rounded 50 minutes that sounds (product, mixing-wise) fantastic and offers just the right dash of experimentation in the composition and singing to keep it hardcore but fresh.  Yeah, it’s radio friendly in the same way that those Helmet and Far discs were, but none of those Sardy albums sacrificed what made those bands, and with a group with as strong of a presence as Cop Shoot Cop, the bolstering of their core sound is absolutely in their favor.