Croc
Shop have been making noise in alternative
and industrial circles since their formation in Berlin in 1988. Mick
Hale & the original bass player raWerner were on a European tour in
1987 with their previous "Pop Art" band and becoming more inspired by 'darker'
bands such as Joy Division, Wire, Red Lorry
Yellow Lorry, Jesus & Mary Chain & New Order,
they decided there that it was time to take a new approach. . . "Crocodile
Shop" was born when a postcard was sent from
Berlin to the States to a drummer Mick had worked with on some demos prior
to this European tour. Many different stories have been told about
where the name comes from... in truth "Crocodile
Shop" was just something that they wrote on
the demo cassette to remember what was on the tape! The thought
most
likely started as their wanting to call a band "The
Reptiles" for some time.
An
EP, Head,
was rushed out by the Minneapolis based Susstones Records ('87) while Mick
was on tour opening for Wire's Ideal
Copy tour. More a reflection of the previous band's style Head
is to Croc Shop
what With Sympathy is to Ministry
(coincidentally C/S later covered "Say Your Sorry" on the German Compilation
Under
Cover.) The more fully realized debut C/S
album, Lullaby,
was a dark guitar based work produced by Chameleons
UK's Dave Fielding. In 1990 C/S
made the transition from goth-rock to industrial after an ongoing replacement
of people with machines, and released the two more electronic-based vinyl
EPs: Measure By Measure
& Technological Optimism.
It was at this time keyboardist vMarkus 'officially' joined C/S,
after sitting in on keys for a show at NY's Limelight.
Things
began happening quickly for the band in 1993, starting with the release
of their CD-debut, Celebrate the Enemy.
After contract negotiations with Berlin's Machinery Records fell through,
the cd was finally released in 1994 on the newly formed Tinman Records.
Produced by WaxTrax mainstay Chris Randall (SMG),
the album was described by Alternative Press as a " hard and harsh
blend of high energy rock with the melodic aspects of electro and the high
angst of industrialism." A remix EP, Crush
Your Enemies, was released a few months
later, again with high praise being lavished upon it for the diversity
of the mixes. Croc Shop
was incorporating trance, techno, break- beats & clean ebm as far back
as 1994.
In
1995, Croc Shop
signed with Metropolis Records and released Beneath
the
following year. CMJ raved: "The trio displays hints of punk, techno,
pop and r&b on it's latest creation,... living proof that the DIY sprit
is very much alive & well in the electronic music world." Their subsequent
Metropolis release, Pain,
took the basic sound of their earlier work and expanded upon it, adding
more ominous melodic hooks, intelligent industrial sequences and scads
of fractured drum'N'bass textures. |
The
remix CDs, Metalwerks,
& Soviet followed
the 1st 2 albums on Metropolis. A LTD Edition Live cd: Live
Action,
recorded in Germany, was issued with the 1st 777 copies of Painin
Europe
via SubMission/ SPV. The band has also appeared on a number of high profile
compilations, including both of Cleopatra's "Tributes to" the
Cure and Skinny
Puppy, 2 of Croc
Shop's early influences. Three critically
acclaimed cds of side projects have also been released by MickHale:
Two albums of his dub-electro project
Division#9
& one album of the collaborative band
proGREX.iv,
with fellow C/S'er
vMarkus.
The band has also done several remixes for a wide variety of other artists,
including SisterHood member
James
Ray, Belgium's
SA42,
Californians Battery
& Collide,
Ohio's Dubok
& Flesh Field,
NJ's Android Lust
and many, many more.
C/S
released
Everything
is Dead and Gone in the early weeks
of 1999. The band toured USA in the summer 1999 in support of the album.
Alternative
Press again took notice & this time covered the band with a feature
in the Low Profile section. Order+Joy
was
then released in April 2000 and proved to be the bands highest chart-topper
[reaching #9 on CMJ's RPM Chart] with
SIDELINE
[Belgium's biggest
Alternative Electro Magazine] saying: "Their Best Album ever...C/S
make
a return to their industrial / EBM source..." SIDELINE promptly included
an interview in the same issue.
Wrongfeatured
remixes from the Order+Joy full-length
& was released thru crocshop.com/DAMn!
in
a limited edition late in Y2k. Giveaways were held throughout the US &
Canada in 2001 @ clubs as well as on many websites & radio shows, bringing
the C/S sound
to an even wider audience. C/S
traveled to Pittsburgh & Texas for shows in 2001 & late in the
year began work on the long awaited follow-up to Order+Joy.
The World full-length
(released again on Metropolis in November 2002) showcases the band's latest
stylistic shift, while retaining many of the core elements present in their
15 years of history. The band embarked on a 6 city tour in support
of this critically acclaimed release (CMJ & Outburn included rave reviews
in their pages). Never content to just rest on their works, the remixes
for
World
followed in April 2003: Entitled
Translated,
it was again issued thru crocshop.com &
DAMn! in a LTD Edition.
Since
their beginning, Croc Shop have
toured heavily and have been seen by thousands of appreciative fans in
Europe, Canada and America. They have appeared with such bands as Front
242, Project Pitchfork, Nitzer Ebb, The Damned, Numb, Switchblade
Symphony, Xymox and Rammstein.
For
the latest information & updates
check
the "News" Page...
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