Photo by Gene Ambo
“C.A.P.S.” is an acronym for “Chicago Alternate Policing Strategy,” and let’s just say that Chi Town crossover crushers Whut? are not down with this particular community effort by the boys in blue. In fact, this two-and-a-half-minute beatdown solidly comes down on the ACAB side. The video alternates between scenes of police violence and performance footage of the quintet—Jeremy Keen (vocals), Gregory Charles (guitar), Jerome Marshall (guitar), Philly D (drums), Bob Mullaney (bass)—with some additional scenes of the crew walking the streets of Chicago. The impactful video was directed by PBS1 and Volution, and filmed and edited by Volution and Bruce Hayden. The live footage was shot on location at Chicago’s infamous LiveWire Lounge.
The track comes from Whut?’s most recent album, No Hope, No Soul, which was released on the band’s own Demon Head Records on CD and digitally back in October. You can order the album here.
This is what the band had to say about the track:
“The opening line ‘Chicago is a death sentence’ is meant to be an instant attention grabber and to open your eyes in unprecedented times and the realities of our daily lives. ‘C.A.P.S.’ is gritty, aggressive and comes out swinging. The song is angry and the title was spited from a local program, the ‘Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy’ meant to improve relations with city residents and instead used as another way to harass and extort. Though the track resonates from where we are from and problems at hand, it also has a direct relationship to world wide issues of abuse from those meant to serve and protect.”
Saturday 12/16/23 @ LiveWire Lounge Chicago, IL
