That the 33 second "Setting the Bushes on Fire" opening to this album is the climactic "You have no powerr over me!" scene in Labrynth should be reason enough to take pause. What follows is the broken up drumming of the very capable hands of (the guys from) Deerhoof and Hella. Not until "Frank vs. Frank" does something resembling notes come into play via a guest harpist. It's all mashed together sort of frustratedly as though the two drummers were slashing through immense clouds of buzzing insects. Some piano and subtle cross-fading of the manic drumming make "Frank vs. Frank" a compelling six minutes of agit-prog teeth gnashing.
Much like the band Storm and Stress, Nervous Cop is little more than excellent drummers, letting off some real steam-powered, experimental avalanches. It's a patience tester, despite its un-intimidating length. I'd have to say, as my eyes get pushed to the back of my head by the gale-force intro to "Nuflesh, Old Thirst," that this is considerably more rewarding than Storm and Stress. The song that follows is like a Coleco free-jazz hardcore journey (i.e., razors in the apple) with several aural booby traps to drop haphazardly into. This is not music to drive to, and your neighbors are legally obliged to tear your heart out if you blast it at three in the morning.
Poultry, fish, or vegetable? If you chose dried, stretched ostrich gizzard, with a luke-warm frogbladder drizzle, then you've found your band. Nervous Cop is an amusingly off-putting band name, and thankfully this twisted pair of audio terrorists has their kits instead of guns. You probably won't find much to grab onto, but the journey is so magnificently dyspeptic and disorienting that they more than live up to their moniker here. At the very least, it’s a thrilling pit stop, side-project/collaboration to tide us over till the new Hella and Deerhoof albums are released.
1. Setting the Bushes on Fire
2. Rice Precipitation
3. Nonrum Nonproblem
4. Get Wolf Boy and Get in Contest
5. Ill Pearls
6. Frank vs. Frank
7. Colorchains of Outerspace
8. Nuflesh, Old Thirst
9. Pow Strikes Pos Implosion
10. The Hawk Feeds You to Feed Itself
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