COPE – ‘THE SHOCK DOCTRINE’

The concept of the ‘Shock Doctrine’, made popular by Canadian author Naomi Klein, is a simple one: if people are too tired, poor, miserable or apathetic to stand up for themselves, then governments and other powerful bodies can get away with pretty much whatever they want. As such, these powerful bodies create a system that works to keep people in this state of oppression while they go about their dastardly business. It’s fitting, then, that this politically-charged debut album from London hardcore unit Cope comes in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation that has seen our own government and their media mouthpieces pull various underhanded tricks to distract us from the fact that they’ve been careless and negligent at best, and downright selfish and cruel at worst. We should all ...