After arriving on the scene with a blend of influences their 2020 debut album Whatever, Man, Blackstarkids instantly became ones to watch. Less than a year later, the Kansas City trio are already gearing up for their sophomore LP, Puppies Forever. Following the upbeat track “Juno” and the playful song “Flight Club,” Blackstarkids are back to address injustice in their fiery new single “All Cops Are Bastards.”
In true Blackstarkids fashion, “All Cops Are Bastards” kicks off with fuzzy guitars and a catchy hook. As a crashing beat arrives, the trio fire off verses making it clear that they’re no friend of the police. The Babe Gabe’s honeyed voice melts over a hazy swirl of instruments at the song’s chorus, singing about how “times are changing” for the better.
Ahead of the single’s release, the band sat down for an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. Discussing their reason for penning the political-leaning track, bandmember Ty said it was written in response to the injustices witnesses in Kansas City during the George Floyd protests last summer:
“We live in Kansas City, so after the George Floyd situation specifically, there was a lot of protests and we went to a couple of days protesting and just saw the way that people were being treated. The interactions between the Kansas City police department specifically, and the citizens of Kansas City who were just peacefully asking for justice and change. In that moment, I just remember, we all kind of came back to the studio where we make our stuff at and we were sitting down and the feeling was just there. We knew we had to say something about it.”
Ty continued that the song isn’t mean to act as a “voice of the people,” it’s just giving their personal perspective. “It’s not like we’re making the grandest statement or anything like that,” he said. “We’re not here trying to be the voice of the people or put ourselves on a pedestal. It’s simply just giving our perspective and our experience on the situation that affected everybody in the country.”
Echoing Ty’s statement, Deoindre continued that Blackstarkids aimed to make the song “bright” and “bold.” “We just knew this topic that we want to make a song about,” he added. “We just wanted it to be bright and also just loud and bold too. And just carry that same tone that we’re carrying throughout the song with what we’re talking about and just being at the forefront.”
Listen to Blackstarkids’ “ACAB” above and watch their interview with Lowe on Apple Music here.
Puppies Forever is out 10/15 via Dirty Hit. Pre-order it here.
