The Old Fashioned Way

Dark Side of the Cop

The Ian Fays

February 8, 2007
Make-Out Room
$8 • 9:00pm

Poster Artist
Adam Saul


The Old-Fashioned Way play an exciting new blend of art pop and melancholic dance rock, drawing on a diverse background of experience (members have been in punk and metal bands, a cappella groups, choirs, and orchestras, to name a few), endeavoring to create something new and something fun. And how is the response to their new sound? One person (who may or may not be in the band) has described it as "awesome", "amazing", "totes the next Radiohead", "sweet", and "and by sweet i mean totally awesome." Sounds good to me.

Innocent melodies expose shadowy places. Electric beats underscore California dreams. Dark Side of the Cop narrates the story of a badge from Detroit, lovesick and lonely, and follows him to Los Angeles in search of his childhood love. Originally conceived as an alternate soundtrack to the 80’s classic Beverly Hills Cop, Dark Side evolved out of “one of the greatest origin-gimmicks ever” into a shimmering synth-pop masterpiece backed by an electronic orchestra that would make Brian Wilson smile.

In between hellish 17-hour Pottery Barn truck-driving gigs — and in between bands — songwriter Marco Panella immersed himself in the creation of the album. Huddled in his cramped San Francisco apartment, surrounded by synths, samplers, and microphones, Panella channeled his love of 70’s songwriting through a sun-drenched elec- tronic sound. “Living in California, so close to an ocean you can’t swim in, in a city you can’t afford to live in – it really gave me focus and inspiration for the music.”

Dark Side of the Cop's eponymous debut cracked the CMJ top 100 upon its release in July, 2006. They completed a 30 city tour, with Panella joined by Auger Down co-founder Roger Thomasson. The duo appeared at the CMJ, NEMO and South Park festivals. They shared the stage with Static, Birdmonster, Hammel on Trial, Saxon Shore, and others. Dark Side of the Cop is currently finishing up an EP with an expected release date of March, 2007. An LP of non-cop related material will follow.

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