On “Yes All Cops”, Worriers name-check an arsenal of loaded references, arranging them into a punk call-to-arms against police brutality and state violence. An ACAB-styled play on #notallmen, the title implicates individual employees in the toxicity of the institution, while simultaneously delegating blame to all who fail to speak out against injustice, singing, “sometimes silence is a loaded gun / in the hands of all of us.” The lyrics invoke punk truisms such as not trusting men in blue uniforms and favoring direct action over waiting for the ruling class to concede power (shoutout Frederick Douglass); “they’ll only give it up when we rip it from their cold dead hands.” A punk song critical of cops is an old and familiar story, but in 2k15 it’s one that rings especially true, and, until something changes, one that bears constant retelling.
“Yes All Cops” will appear on Imaginary Life, out August 7 on Don Giovanni Records.
