Crocodile Shop (later simply Croc Shop) is an electro- industrial

aggrotech Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound w ...

EBM band formed in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

in 1987 by Mick Hale and R. A. Werner from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

History

Crocodile Shop was formed after Hale and Werner ended their previous new wave project,

Mod Fun Mod Fun are an American power pop/garage punk band from New Jersey. Mod Fun were originally active in the early to mid-1980s, and played an integral part in New York City's burgeoning garage rock revival scene at the time. By mid-1986, they were ...

. They became inspired by the "darker"

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

sounds of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

, New Order,

Wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, also known very briefly as the Lorries, are an English rock band formed in Leeds in early 1981 by guitarist and songwriter Chris Reed, vocalist Mark Sweeney, bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown. After breaking up ...

and

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

, which deviated from the styles that other members of the band favored. Over a two week period during a European tour the band fell apart, clearing the way for Hale and Werner to start a new band. According to the band's official website, the name "Crocodile Shop" was just something the group entitled a demo tape as a reminder of its contents, and the name stuck.Crocodile Shop Bio
Originally a three-piece band (guitar, bass and drums) with drummer John Figlar of

Lord John Lord John was a British men's fashion retailer, which opened its first store at 43 Carnaby Street, London, at the corner with Ganton Street, in 1963. The first Lord John boutique was opened by the brothers Warren, Harold and David Gold in Ca ...

fame, the group's first release was the 1987 EP entitled "Head" released on the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

-based Susstones Records. At the time, the group had a strong

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

sound which they rapidly evolved from; eventually referring to "Head" as their version of Ministry's "

With Sympathy ''With Sympathy'' is the debut studio album by American industrial band Ministry, released on May 10, 1983, by Arista Records. The group was formed in 1981 by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Al Jourgensen, with drummer Stephen George bei ...

" which was unrepresentative of the band. The following full-length album "Lullaby", produced by

Chameleons UK The Chameleons are an English rock band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 1981. The band's classic line-up consisted of bassist and vocalist Mark Burgess (now known as Vox), guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding, and drummer Joh ...

's Dave Fielding, developed their overall sound further towards gothic and included more dark guitar work. Eventually, the band would also slowly abandon the "guitar goth" sound, first replacing their drummer with a

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, releasing the Red Lorry Yellow Lorry influenced "Measure By Measure" EP and then finally with the addition of keyboard player V. Markus, (who was influenced by the likes of

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they influenced the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Front 242 were for ...

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian and Yugoslav avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neoclassical genres. Formed in 1980 in the mining town of Trbovlje, Slovenia, at the time a constituent republic within Socialist Fede ...

and

Nitzer Ebb Nitzer Ebb () are an English electronic body music, EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Bon Harris, Vaughan "Bon" Harris (programming, synthesizers, drums, vocals), Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were ...

), they turned to an entirely electronic-based outfit. The band followed up with the fully electro-industrial sounding EP "Technological Optimism". Crocodile Shop's debut on CD came about in 1993 with the release of the album "Celebrate the Enemy" on Tinman Records. The album, produced by Chris Randall of

Wax Trax! Records Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that y ...

and

Sister Machine Gun Sister Machine Gun is an American industrial rock band originally based in Chicago, Illinois. Sister Machine Gun was formed in New York City by Chris Randall and Guilherme Machado. After a short hiatus, the band signed with Wax Trax! Records a ...

, was a clean blend of the latest electro-sounds and mixed elements of

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

break-beat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat har ...

, and EBM. An ''

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...

'' review described the work as "a hard and harsh blend of high energy rock with the melodic aspects of electro and the high angst of industrialism." The album was followed up by the remix EP "Crush Your Enemies" which was also praised on the dance floor. In 1995, Crocodile Shop signed to

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ...

and continued to expand their repertoire releasing the full-length albums "Beneath" in 1996 and "Pain" in 1997. The remix EPs "Metalwerks" and "Soviet" also followed the studio albums. Also released was "Live Action", a 777-copy limited edition live performance recorded in Germany and distributed on SubMission/SPV label. As the band's popularity in the electro-underground grew, Mick Hale began working on other side projects releasing two electro-dub albums under the name Division #9, and teaming up with V. Markus as progGREX.iv. The band had also gone on to produce remixes for such artists as Collide,

Battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

, and

Android Lust Android Lust is the solo project of Shikhee D’iordna, that combines elements of rock, electropop, electro-industrial and classical styles into a blend of music that she describes as "electronic and dark." History Shikhee D’iordna was born i ...

. After extensive tours over the next few years, in 1999, the band recruited new member Len9 and changed their musical direction once again. With Len9's influences and taking advantage of the newest and more affordable synthesizer technology that was out there, the door opened for new possibilities in their sound. They released "Everything is Dead and Gone" which was followed in 2000 by "Order + Joy", under the shortened name Croc Shop. (The album's title is a play off two of the group's original influences: New Order and Joy Division).

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

's ''SIDE-LINE'' magazine called "Order + Joy" Crocodile Shop's "best album ever", hailing it as a return to their earlier and gritter EBM sound. "Order + Joy" was followed by the remix EP "Wrong" which was released on CD and distributed exclusively through their website. In 2002, the band released "World" which, while continuing much of the EBM sound of "Order + Joy", represented another shift in the music style to a cleaner Synth Pop vibe. While the band embarked on another tour they released a remix EP for "World" called "Translated", and again, it saw exclusive distribution over the internet. In 2004, they released the 2 cd best of "CS_Sea: Self Extracting Archive" with 37 tracks covering all their releases, after which they took a long break and returned with the "Resist!" full length in 2020; followed almost immediately by another 30-song collection entitled "The Rest In Pieces," featuring nearly all the back catalogue tracks that did not appear on "CS_Sea." These latest releases can both be found at all the streaming online outlets. The band has in the past shared the stage with such acts as

, Project Pitchfork,

Switchblade Symphony Switchblade Symphony was an American gothic rock band from San Francisco, California. Their music combined orchestral sounds with heavy synth sequences and ethereal vocals to create a union of classical music and gothic rock. History Switchb ...

and

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Lullaby'' - LP (1988) Susstones * ''Celebrate the Enemy'' - CD (1994) Tinman * ''Beneath'' - CD (1996)

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

* ''Pain'' - CD (1997) Metropolis * ''Everything is Dead and Gone'' - CD (1999) Metropolis – #39

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

RPM Charts As Croc Shop * ''Order + Joy'' - CD (2000) Metropolis * ''World'' - CD (2002) Metropolis * ''Resist!'' - Digital (2020) DAMN! * ''Perpetual Sequence'' - Digital (2021) Metropolis EPs * ''Head'' - 12" (1987) Susstones * ''Measure By Measure'' - 7" (1989) Susstones * ''Technological Optimism'' - 12" DAMN! * ''Celebrate the Enemy'' - 12" (1993) Danse Assembly Productions * ''Crush Your Enemies'' - CD (1995) Tinman * ''Metalwerks'' - CD (1997)

Out of Line Out of Line Music is an independent record label located in Berlin, Germany, Miami, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. Out of Line is distributed by Rough Trade (Believe Digital) and exclusive partner to publishing giant BMG Rights Management, t ...

* ''Soviet'' - CD (1998) Tinman Compilations * ''Self Extracting Archive - 1987-2004 - A Collection'' - 2xCD (2004) DAMN!

Compilation appearances

* ''It's Midnight Xmess Part III'' - LP side #2 track #2 "December Mourning" (1987) Midnight Records * ''Rivet Head Culture'' - CD track #17 "Growing Stronger (Steroid Mix)" (1993) If It Moves... * ''There Is No Time'' - 4xCD disc #4 track #7 "Celebrate the Enemy" (1995) Ras Dva Records * ''Sound-Line Vol. 4'' - CD track #10 "Growing Stronger (The Fuhs Remix)" (1997) Side-Line * ''100 Tears - A Tribute to The Cure'' - CD track #7 "Let's Go to Bed" (1997)

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

* ''Awake the Machines - On the Line Vol. 2'' - 2xCD disc #1 track #2 "Blinding" (1997) Out of Line, Sub/Mission Records * ''Bodyhorst's Popshow'' - CD track #7 "Some Nothing" (1997)

Zoth Ommog Records Zoth Ommog Records was a German record label that focused on Industrial music and was owned by parent label Music Research. The company was established by German music producer Andreas Tomalla (aka Talla 2XLC) in 1989 and later handed over to pro ...

* ''Vertigo Compilation 01/1997 - CD track #9 "High and Deep" (1997) Celtic Circle Productions * ''Empire One'' - CD track #1 ''Celebrate the Enemy'', track #8 "Soviet (Colder)", and track #16 "Grey Day Reign" (1998) Tinman Records * ''Hymns of the Warlock - A Tribute to Skinny Puppy'' - CD track #7 "The Choke" (1998) Cleopatra,

Synthetic Symphony SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributors ...

* ''Sounds from the Asylum 1'' - CD track #12 "Funeral March (SMP Remix)" (1998) Base Asylum * ''Five Years of Electronic Tears'' - 2xCD disc #2 track #10 "Waiting Game" (1999) Cyberware Productions * ''Metropolis 1999'' - CD track #9 "Core" (1999) Metropolis * ''Base Asylum - Sounds form the Asylum Two'' - 2xCD disc #2 track #1 "Useless (Sanity's Edge Remix)" (2000) Base Asylum * ''Critical M@55'' - CD track #13 "Order + Joy (Dessau Remix)" (2000) Metropolis * ''Cryonica Tanz V.1'' - 2xCD disc #2 track #6 "New Ideal (UK Remix)" (2000) Cryonica Music * ''Electropolis: Volume 2'' - CD track #6 "Order + Joy (Exclusive Remix)" (2000) Metropolis * ''Essential Industrial Masters'' - 3xCD disc #3 track #7 "The Choke" (2001) Big Eye Music * ''Critical M@55 Volume 4'' - CD (listed as Croc Shop) track #6 "World (Global Mix)" 2001 Metropolis * ''Tinman 21'' - Promo CD track #2 ''World'', and track #9 "Higher" (2002) Tinman Records * ''Futronik Structures 4'' - CD (listed as Croc Shop) track #5 "Nu Precedence" (2003) DSBP Records * ''Interbreeding II: Industrial Mutation'' - 2xCD (listed as Croc Shop) disc #2 track #13 "Hide (V 1.3)" (2003) BLC Productions * ''Fully Automated: The Headache Remixes'' - CD (listed as Croc Shop) track #4 "Generation (2nd Generation Mix)" (2004) Uncoiled Loops Production * ''State of Synthpop 2005'' - 6xCD (listed as Croc Shop) disc #5 track #2 "Safe Harbour" (2005) A Different Drum

References

External links

Croc Shop Official SiteCroc Shop on MySpace
* {{Authority control Electro-industrial music groups Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups from New Jersey American industrial music groups Metropolis Records artists