COPWATCH.com

GRATUITOUS MUSIC REVIEW




    The White Stripes


      It’s not often that we take the time or space to write about a matter not directly related to our raison d'ętre, but this band definitely rates an exception. In a sense, we are not really diverging from our purpose, since this group evokes an individualistic, iconoclastic attitude that we would like to encourage among our readership.

      The White Stripes have made absolutely no concessions to current pop sensibilities, cleaving to their own instead, which are incalculably more authentic and timeless. With the precision of a straight-edge razor, their music mercifully excises the rotting layers of trite, trendy, overproduced “musical product” that the hydra-headed radio/recording conglomerates have shellacked onto your brain. Long after the current crop of “boy bands” and c/rap “artists” have exceeded their “sell by” date and been casually thrown on the ash-heap of irrelevant history, “The White Stripes” will be played by admiring cognoscenti.

      Unlike many of their mainstream colleagues, these folks are not preening pansies, pretentious posers, or calculating bandwagon-jumpers. They pursue a uniquely seductive muse, giving birth to a magnetic style that combines rawness, immediacy, passion, courage, honesty, and skilled musicianship. This is music that John Lomax would have recorded, if he were caught in an episode of the “Twilight Zone”.

      Though they are so original as to essentially defy categorization, they are often described as “punk”, which is true to the extent that they perform with sufficient devil-may-care nonchalance to present a punk sensibility, while totally avoiding the who-gives-a-shit sloppiness and self-destructive nihilism that define all too many punk bands. Thus in modern parlance their music might be roughly described as bluesy, somewhat punkish, grungy esoterica.

      Attempting to discern their influences, or define their music through comparisons with better-known bands, is almost an exercise in futility, since any given listener seems to hear vague echoes of his or her all-time favorite artists. Like an aural funhouse mirror, the listener’s own reality is reflected, though distorted to a greater or lesser degree. It boils down to this: you’ll hear what you like, and you’ll like what you hear.

      Call your local “alternative” radio station with a request for “Candy Cane Girl”, “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground”, “I Fought Piranhas”, “Death Letter”, “Hotel Yorba”, or “I’m Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman”. And don’t get a speeding ticket afterwards-- when you rush out to buy a CD.

      (Please let us know if they have done a song with lyrics that would be appropriate to post here).





          Obviously, the presence of this review does not imply any endorsement of Copwatch.com by the White Stripes. For all we know, they might be ardent supporters of the police.







    We are attempting to compile a comprehensive list of songs, (as well as poetry), concerning police conduct, freedom, and related subjects. Apropos suggestions may be submitted to copwatch@lokmail.com or to our discussion forum.







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The White Stripes is a band from Detroit that was once thought to consist of a brother and sister duo. I wonder if this rumor was not more actively discouraged because of the pop-culture link to the movie “The Crow”, which was set in Detroit, and featured a brother-sister duo who were quite kinky. It could have been like an in-joke. In any event, it later became known that the two band members, Jack White and Meg White, were in fact former husband and wife, according to various articles. The White Stripes are very popular in England, where they enjoy the support of the famous radio personality Peel (they’ve played live at Peel Acres). White Stripes song lyrics are very interesting. Their albums include the eponymously titled “The White Stripes, “De Stijle”, and “White Blood Cells”. Their first recording contract was with “Italy Records”, then they signed with “Sympathy for the Record Industry”. Guitar chord tablature for songs by the White Stripes enable anyone to play their songs. Their live performances are said to be riveting, and the lyrics are supposed to be good. Some of their songs include Stop Breaking Down, A Boy’s Best Friend, Aluminum, Apple Blossom, Ashtray Heart, Astro, Candy Cane Children, China Girl, Expecting, I Can Learn, Jimmy the Exploder, Jolene, Jumble Jumble, Lafayette Blues, Let’s Shake Hands, Little People, Little Room, Live at BBC Maida Vale, Live at Peel Acres, Live Baby Blue, Look Me Over Closely, Lord, Send Me an Angel, I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself, Red Bowling Ball Ruth, Screwdriver, St. James Infirmary Blues, Sugar Never Tasted So Good, Suzy Lee, The Same Boy You’ve Always Known, The Union Forever, This Protector, China Pig, Rated X, We’re Going to be Friends, You’re Pretty Good Looking, Cannon, John the Revelator, Party of Special Things to Do, Candy Cane Girl, Do, Expecting, Fell in Love with a Girl, Hello Operator, I Can’t Wait, I’m Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman, Little Bird, Now Mary, One More Cup of Coffee and I’ll Go, Sister Do You Know My Name, Stop Breaking Down, Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Death Letter, Son House, Hotel Yorba, Wasting My Time, Handsprings, When I Hear My Name, Upholsterers, Apple Of My Eye, I Ain’t Superstitious, Pain, Broken Bricks, Hand springs, I Think I Smell a Rat, I’m Bound to Pack It Up, Let’s Build a Home, Your Southern Can is Mine, Slicker Drips, Why Can’t You be Nicer to Me, Blink Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and The Big Three Killed My Baby, live at Miada Vale with the BBC. I think their song Handsprings, on Party of Special Things to Do, may have been released on Subpop. The White Stripes have covered songs by various artists, including Dolly Parton, Captain Beefheart, the Rolling Stones, Blind Willie McTell, T. Gilkyson, Bob Dylan, Loretta Lynn, Robert Johnson, J. Primrose, and Son House. Help copwatch fight police brutality. Bad cops must be prosecuted. Police corruption is a major problem - copwatch will root it out. Dirty cops threaten the criminal justice system. Police misconduct is an epidemic. Police abuse innocent citizens all too often. Police harassment is a frequent occurrence. The blue wall of silence protects bad cops, and police culture must be reformed. Deviant cops must be fired. Police deviance cannot be tolerated. Last year saw a bad cop arrested for rape, a dirty cop charged with extortion, police corruption involving drug distribution, a criminal cop jailed for brutality, a disgraced police chief sentenced for domestic abuse, a convicted sheriff guilty of theft, moonlighting police disciplined for misconduct, convicted cops fired for sexual assault, a guilty cop suspended for harassment, a discredited cop charged with perjury, and a law enforcement officer suspended from duty for being on the take. Police corruption is common across the country. Such activities are a disgrace to the badge, and dishonor the uniform, so the offending cop was forced to turn in his badge. Subsequent reports revealed a state patrol officer investigated for arson, a highway patrol officer indicted for fraud, a state trooper jailed for assault, a top cop ousted for brandishing his weapon, a Police Sgt. fired for bribery, (while another Police Sergeant quit the force), a Police Lt. pressured to resign (the Lieutenant is accused of murder), child-molesting police, and a Police Commander crashed his squad car in a high speed pursuit. The police department engaged in a coverup to hide evidence of misconduct, refusing to release relevant public records and public documents, despite the open records law and the submission of a public disclosure request. Finally, Serpico breaks ranks. As the bad cops close ranks, good police put their lives on the line, while an overzealous county mounty (or mountie) is an embarrassment to the force. An ex-cop turns in his gun. Learn how to prevent police brutality. The Police Benevolent Fund manufactures support for the police department - a department under fire amid accusations of misconduct. The Police Guild negotiates a new contract for its members. The Police Union demands raise in overtime pay. Funds are increased with the seizure of drug money. Forfeiture proceedings are instituted, and the police seize the property of alleged drug dealers, including cars, homes, planes, real estate, guns, and drugs. At the same time, police raise funds for charity and participate in public service programs. Community policing resulted in ride-along programs for local citizens, and increased participation in police Explorer programs. But the broken-window, zero-tolerance program is difficult to evaluate. A gun-buyback program was successful, with cops collecting a variety of firearms, including assault rifles, handguns, Saturday night specials, automatic weapons, shotguns, tec-9, glocks, taurus, S&W, .45 caliber, .44 caliber, .357 caliber, 9mm, all military style. The guns were auctioned off or melted down. BATF agents were investigating the sale of handguns. The FBI conducted a background check, so citizens interested in the militia movement attended gun shows, where they were able to purchase handguns from vendors. Issuance of a concealed weapons permit was allowed, and this gun permit allowed the man to use his handgun for concealed carry in a shoulder holster. The national law enforcement memorial fund is a beautiful tribute to the boys in blue who have made the ultimate sacrifice. To serve and protect is their honorable motto. Duty and honor is another. The LAPD scandal tarnishes public perception of police officers. Police brutality is a major issue in minority neighborhoods. Neighborhood watch programs were quite effective in reducing crime statistics and increasing neighborhood safety. Cops shoot suspect, and then the cops shoot suspect again. The suspect is wounded, and then the suspect dies in police custody. This pattern is called custody death syndrome. Positional asphyxiation is often blamed for the death of prisoners, after the prisoners are pepper-sprayed, maced, beaten, handcuffed, and thrown in the back of a police car. Suicide by cop is another term that is becoming popular, as police seek to blame the victim and excuse their unprofessional behavior. These police cover-ups are ineffective, and police brutality is found to be the cause of death. Cops and robbers is a nice game, but when the cops kill or fatally wound a suspected robber, the circumstances are often suspicious. Many cops are drug abusers, some police are drug addicts, many officers are alcoholics. Cops on steroids often exhibit roid rage when police abuse steroids. Amadou Diallou was sodomized by police on steroids. Police brutality and racial profiling are two issues that often arise at major metropolitan police departments. Bill Sheehan created a website revealing the social security numbers, home addresses, and home telephone numbers of Kirkland Police Department (KPD) officers. SPD info was scheduled to go live on April 1st. Civil rights abuses probed. Officer convicted of drunk driving. Man killed in police raid. At the N30 demonstrations, cops without nametags beat nonviolent protestors without provocation. The direct action network, DAN for short, was created in response. During the Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday celebrations in Seattle, a roving gang of black thugs beat Kris Kime to death as he was attempting to assist an injured women who was being attacked by a group of black women, and the police stood by and did nothing. This murder is on the hands of Mayor Paul Schell, who refuses to prosecute the perpetrators for hate crimes. Some people have argued that a database of bad cops should be developed. Many authoritative academic studies examine the psychological profile of police officers. There are many deviant police officers. Some police departments foster a culture of police deviance. Where is a free punk music concert? Kids like to thrash on their skateboard. Snowboarding, or boarding, is enjoyed by straightedge skinheads. RATM is phat. The swat team, equipped with military gear, broke down the door and swarmed into the apartment with guns drawn. Dynamic entry police raids are dangerous to citizens. Police brutality is a growing problem.


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