Los Angeles, CA · punk · melodic-punk

Bad Cop Bad Cop

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Fat Wreck melodic punk with four-part harmonies and no patience for anyone's nonsense — SoCal hooks carrying unapologetically feminist fire.

Bad Cop Bad Cop was founded in San Pedro, California, in 2011 by bassist Jen Carlson together with Stacey Dee (vocals, guitar), Myra Gallarza (drums) and Jennie Cotterill (vocals, guitar); the name plays on the idiom 'good cop, bad cop.' The band is built around multiple singer-guitarists trading and stacking vocal lines.

They toured locally before expanding to the East Coast, releasing the demo Get Rad and a self-titled 7-inch in 2012. Carlson soon left and introduced the group to her replacement, Linh Le. Fat Mike saw the band at the Lilith Bear Womyn's Festival in San Francisco, signed them to Fat Wreck Chords within a week, and released their EP Boss Lady, followed by the debut album Not Sorry in 2015.

Musically the band works in fast, melodic California punk, with tight three- and four-part harmonies layered over short, hook-driven songs. The lyrics are direct and frequently political, dealing with feminism, addiction and personal survival, and the harmony arrangements are the element that most distinguishes them from their peers on the same label.

The band played Fat Wreck's 25th anniversary tour, though Stacey Dee's struggles with addiction led them to leave partway through; Fat Mike supported her recovery afterward. Their second album, Warriors, followed in 2017 with Fat Mike producing alongside Warsop, and they later played the Vans Warped Tour. In 2019 Dee filled in for Joey Cape on European dates with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.

A third album, The Ride, arrived in 2020. Alexandra Windsor joined as a second guitarist in 2022, and Jennie Cotterill later left the band, going on to form Reckoner in 2024. The single 'Shattered' appeared in 2023 ahead of a fourth album, Lighten Up, released in September 2025 through Hopeless Records and Fat Wreck Chords.

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punkmelodic-punk