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Fall Semester Showdown profile: Hot Cops

More than a dozen local bands will be playing the Fall Semester showdown at the Canopy Club on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. In case you’re not familiar with some of them, we’ll be running capsule interviews with as many of them as would respond to our emails over the next few days.

Next up: Hot Cops, who will be playing on Saturday night as part of a five-band bill also featuring Worlds First Flying Machine, Zach May and the Maps, On Again Off Again and Shark Bandit. Cover is $7, and the show starts at 9 p.m.

"Exploding Monkeys" by Hot Cops

Smile Politely: How would you describe your sound to a person who you don't think will like your music?

Hot Cops: Recklessly. Probably "Melodically-Screamed Indie Rock with a tinge of Noise and a Pizza/R.Kelly After Party Vibe"

Smile Politely: Is there anything your music has been compared to that you don't particularly agree with?

Hot Cops: Owl City, but I think the person meant well. Or had a few in them. Either way, we wholeheartedly disagree.

Smile Politely: Are there any non-musical influences that one might not expect?

Hot Cops: Definitely Bernhard Riemann. The guy responsible for the advent of Differential Geometry and Math Rock. Physics and Shellac owe a great deal to this man.

Smile Politely: What are the primary factors/influences/motivations that keep you doing what you're doing?

Hot Cops: We've been doing this for so long that we're finally getting the hang of how we work together. The songs get better, the shows sound tighter, and the people gradually start saying our name because of us and not Arrested Development. It's a fulfilling time.

Smile Politely: What is the best (or worst) thing happening in music today (either local, national or international)?

Hot Cops: Best: Andrew Bird, Antlers, Bon Iver, Frightened Rabbit, pretty much a steady stream of catchy and spirited songs from varying strains of music. Worst: Twilight.

Smile Politely: Tell us about the worst show you have ever played.

Hot Cops: Double Door on a Tuesday night in December. Snow, sleet, went on at midnight, and played to a nearly empty venue. I don't think they'll invite us back anytime soon.

Smile Politely: What do you have coming up on the horizon?

"Dirty" Jon Hasselbring: trumpets! right Too Smooth?

Nik Allen: What, you mean besides the Great Cover-Up? We're writing for a full length, trying to line up some new shows in Chicago.

Smile Politely: What can people expect from your live show that differs from what is available from your MySpace?

Hot Cops: Insanity, Vibrancy, and Tangerines. Myspace stopped the tangerine promo a while back.

Smile Politely: Anything else you want to emphasize or get off your chest?

Hot Cops: Dear WPGU, we've sent you our CD through the mail, through the e-mail, and have tried contacting you on multiple occasions. Unless PGU-bot has killed everyone in the station and has decided that we don't fit into the new format, please give us a ring back so we know which defunct post-punk band to mimic. Toodles, The Hot Cops!

4 comments

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colin

#1

“<strong></strong>Dear WPGU, we’ve sent you our CD…“
dudes, you’re not the only ones..  this made me laugh pretty hard

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justin hedrick

#2

send it to WPCD, the parkland station. seriously. you can find the mailing address on that internet thing (is that still around?).

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Matt

#3

New format for pgu?

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jibbski

#4

you couldn’t have put that last comment better.  thank you hot cops.


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Thanks for the article, Ben.  I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar.  A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…

{username}

Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…

Ben Valocchi avatar

good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…

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sux

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whats a zmick?

{username}

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Who’s got the crack?

JPSherrill avatar

Any band that makes the effort to pay homage to ! = Metallica @ = Beatles # = 2pac $ = Moldy Peaches % = Grateful Dead ^ = Dave Clark 5 All in one show!  (with Herb Alpert interpolations to boot) That’s what tasty jams is all about  

{username}

THE CAKE IS A LIE

Most Recent Comments

{username}

Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win. 

Dan Schreiber avatar

Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is.  But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…

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{username}

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(speaking as a Savoy resident)  By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc.  This is how library systems work.  The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…

Rob McColley avatar

I read Timbo’s argument. I think the key word is “speculating.“

{username}

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Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.

emma reaux avatar

I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…

Dan Schreiber avatar

And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.

Dan Schreiber avatar

The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.

Timbo avatar

Curtis Orchard is always good for an hour or three, especially if you have rugrats.

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{username}

Thanks for the article, Ben.  I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar.  A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…

{username}

Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…

Joel Gillespie avatar

@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.

Tracy Nectoux avatar

Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.

Ben Valocchi avatar

good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…

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