''Police''

LET THEM FIGHT EACH OTHER TO THE DEATH WE WILL LIVE ON THEIR GRAVES 
(Message on reverse of sleeve)

Sleeve- Front

Sleeve - Back
Vinyl - A & B sides
'Regular' insert - Front: Policeman chasing kids + 'Police' lyrics

'Regular' insert - Reverse: Mug shots of Toronto
City Councillors (and band) + 'Municipal Pricks' lyrics



Stats:

General:
Tracks: Police B/W Municipal Prick / Old Bill
Year: 2003
Label: Deranged Records DER-33
Matrix A: DERANGED YOUTH-33-A JIXZYVXCVPYVOZJAWD
Matrix B: DERANGED YOUTH-33-B 5-R

Pressing Info:
1st Press 1200 (10 with hand-drawn sleeve) (6 Test Presses)
2nd 500
3rd 1000
4th and later - unknown

Inserts:
1st Press - 'Regular' insert + 'Old Bill' insert (There are at least 6 different Old Bill inserts, see images below)
2nd Press - 'Regular' insert (folded opposite way to all other releases) + Deranged Records Flyer
3rd & later - 'Regular' insert
    Variants:
    Three variants of 'regular sleeve - see images below
    Hand-drawn sleeve



    Sleeve Variations:
    Above: Three different sleeves (fronts) overlapped for comparison.

    ID:
    1st & 2nd Press -   (Cream coloured shiny paper).  Front: Small gap between Deranged logo and bottom corner of sleeve. Inside: Cover artwork repeated on inside of sleeve.  Back: FU logo in top right corner has white background. 

    3rd & 4th Press -  (White paper).  Front: No Deranged logo. Image cropped more than first press, (Bearded man on right-hand side has no ear showing, first 'L' Missing from LA LOIRE 20 sign on left-hand side. Inside: No artwork on inside of sleeve. Back: FU logo in top right corner has clear background. 

    5th & later -  (White paper).  Front: Big gap between Deranged logo and bottom corner of sleeve. Image cropped as per 3rd / 4th press. Inside & Back: As per 3rd / 4th press. Sleeve slightly larger  from top to bottom than the previous ones - see pics.
    Above: Three different sleeves (backs) overlapped for comparison.


    1st or 2nd Press?
    The 1st and 2nd press can be told apart by the inserts:
    Above: A number of 1st press (LHS) & 2nd press (RHS), laid out to make the following comparisons:
    1. (Top) The 'Old Bill' inserts are unique to the first press, see below. The second press usually has a Deranged Records Flyer, showing a pair of rats and advertising various releases including the 'Epics in Minutes' CD comp.
    2. (Middle) The 'regular' insert is folded with the faces on the outside on the second press. This is unique to the second press. The first press and all the later presses have the 'cop chasing naked kids' image on the outside.
    3. (Bottom) The first and second press have identical sleeves as described above.


    'Old Bill' Inserts:
    These are approx A4 size. On one side they have an image plus lyrics to Police (sort of) written in Cockney rhyming slang, under the heading 'Old Bill'. There are at least six different inserts (different images on one side). The other side of the inserts are all the same, they have comments regarding various City Councillors, along with the text FUCK YOU MUNICIPAL PRICKS.

    Above: The different inserts all have the same reverse
    Info
    Info (Follow link & scroll to bottom of page)
    Not much info
    You're nicked son
    NEED info
       


    Notes:

    MRR #250 - Mike Thorn Top 10 of 2003:
    Honestly words can't describe how much I adore this record. I really and truly think that I might have worn out my own personal copy of this and am well on the way to doing the same to the MRR collections copy. "the Police" is a monster of a song, from the intro that echoes of the WHO's "Baba O'Reilly" to it's stomping POISON IDEA-esque perfect riffing, pissed as all hell vocal delivery, and slashing lyrics about the boys in blue. The flip is a speedy thrasher about the scummy, self-interested politicians, both left and right, who dominate the Toronto political landscape. A totally classic record.

    NOT A GAME # 2 Interview (2003 or 2004):
    Damian: Municipal Prick is not even about municipal politicians but it is about the police chief. I put in Jack Layton as my contribution because these guys are all on his nuts, but I don’t like him.

    2004 Interview:
    We just want people to have to pay attention to be into our band. If you don’t, there is always shit you miss. People tell me that they dig the music on the records, but did you take a second look at the matrix numbers to see if they mean anything? Or read the typing on Police carefully? (1)

    2011? Quote:
    Our second record, released all the way back in 2003. And we still play this song. Every show. I hate my life. (2)

    Random stuff:
    Record has first part of coded message etched into vinyl (see matrix info above).

    'Old Bill' Insert has hidden messages in backwards text and binary code

    Various sources refer to the first press having the DY-33, rather than DER-33 catalogue reference. This appears to be an error; DY-33 does not seem to exist.    


    Sleeve Notes:

    Front cover image shows riot Police baton-charging student protesters during the May 1968  protests in Paris. The insurrections were said to be partly influenced by the political theory, ideas and writing of Situationist International

    Extracts from NYT Article: ''Paris, May 1968: The revolution that never was'':
    The objectives were self-management by workers, a decentralization of economic and political power and participatory democracy at the grass roots. The great fear was that contemporary capitalism was capable of absorbing any and all critical ideas or movements and bending them to its own advantage. Hence, the need for provocative shock tactics... 
    ...Was this utopian impulse, as religious and political conservatives have often charged, a naïve and dangerous dream? It did not aim at human perfectibility but only at imagining that life could really be different and a whole lot better.
    In any case, the utopian impulse is no longer much in evidence. Today's dreams seem to be much more defensive in nature - damping down wars, fending off hunger, containing epidemics and preventing planetary destruction. (3)


    Commodity Fetishism:

    Hand-drawn cover 6/10 - Front

    Hand-drawn cover 6/10 - Full

    Hand-drawn cover 6/10 -  Dust sleeve

    Hand-drawn cover (#?) - Front

    Test Press - blank labels
    Test Press - hand-written labels




    (1) MRR Interview - on Looking For Gold Blog
    (2) FU online store
    (3) New York Times Article