The Cops (Australian band)

The Cops
The Cops playing live at Newtown Social Club, Sydney, in July 2015.
Background information
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Rock
Years active	2003-2008, 2015-present
Labels	Love Police Records/Reverberation Illustrious Artists Inertia
Associated acts	The Mess Hall, Big Heavy Stuff, 78 Saab
Website	Official website
Members	Simon Carter Todd Smith Cec Condon Archi Fires James Roden Jimmy Stacks
Past members	Andrew Gilbert Rebecca Darwon Nicholas Kennedy Jarrod Murphy Nicholai Danko Simon Meli

The Cops are an Australian rock band that were formed in late 2003 by songwriter Simon Carter and bass player/keyboardist Rebecca Darwon (ex-Fyreflyes, Del-Emmas) in Sydney, New South Wales.

Initially, Simon Carter began recording songs in his parents' basement, which were unlikely to see the light of day, until he sat down with his bass-playing friend Bec Darwon and offered to play her his demos.

I told him we should start a band and it was funny because he didn't think they were any good but I thought they were great!
— Rebecca Darwon

The Cops' original line up also included Simon Meli (The Widowbirds), Jimmy Stacks (who previously played with Carter in 'General Lee'), Andrew Gilbert (Whom Carter played with in 'Hush Honey') and Nick Kennedy (ex-Big Heavy Stuff) .

In early 2004, the band released their debut self-titled E.P. on Reverberation. In late 2004, The Cops signed with small independent record label Love Police Records, releasing the debut album Stomp On Tripwires in September that year.

In 2005, the band undertook numerous tours, with support slots for bands such as Blondie, The Dirtbombs, The Distillers, The Donnas, Dallas Crane and The Von Bondies; while also receiving nominations for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Bass Player' at the 2005 Jack Awards.

In May 2005, Jimmy Stacks left the band. This was followed by the departure of guitarist Andrew Gilbert and drummer Nick Kennedy. Carter and Darwon decided to rebuild the band, with Todd Smith being retained on keys, Jarrod Murphy, (ex-Major) on guitar and Nicholai Danko (78 Saab) on drums. The band also left their label, Love Police Records, and signed to Inertia Recordings in 2006 as the label's first exclusive recording artist.

The new line-up of the band recorded and released an EP entitled 80 In The Shade in November 2006. The EP's lead single, "Call Me Anytime," received significant airplay on numerous indie radio stations; with the video being played on MTV, Channel [V] and Rage. The song ended up placing at #33 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2006.