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True Detectives was a Philadelphia-area independent band that was active on the East Coast of the United States in the late 1980s and early-1990s. At the time, they were notable for their blending of rock, heavy metal, funk, dance music, hip-hop and reggae; while genre-bending became more mainstream in the following decade, when the band was most active it was a fairly unusual style.

According to the band's former bassist Brian Rhody, "there was interest from record labels such as CBS/Columbia, Alpha International, Island Records, and TVT Records," but the band never signed a record contract, and thus never released an album on a major label.^[1] Like most independent bands operating at the time, most of the band's work was available on self-produced cassettes, and thus is no longer available for sale. However, Brian Rhody maintains a website (truedetectives.com) devoted to the band that makes the band's three cassette releases available for free.

The band broke up in 1991 reformed briefly in 1992, and despite efforts was not able to continue^[1].

Members

• Jeff Taylor - Vocals, Guitar (1985-1992)
• Bendan "Stymie" Jemison - Guitar, Vocals (1985-1991)
• Mike McCann - Percussion (1985-1992)
• Aldo Noboa - Guitar, Vocals (1988-1992)
• Gino Leonadris - Bass (1985-1986)
• Kevin (?) - Bass (1986-1987)
• John Fergusen - Bass (1987-1988)
• Brian Rhody - Bass (1988-1991)
• Steve Scavone - Guitar,Vocals (1991-1992)
• Dan Long - Visuals (1985-1992)
• John (?) - Bass (1991-1992)

One of the band's more interesting compositional strategies was to assemble songs not by sampling original recordings but to work out their own arrangements of songs and then arrange snippets of the various cover versions using a method similar to cut-up technique. As the song solidified, the band would play the rearranged riffs as a coherent song, producing a sound that in many ways is a precursor to the mashup. In "TDs Intensely Relaxing While Other Panic" (listen to clip here), for example, the band played live clips of the Kiss (band) track "Hotter Than Hell," Led Zeppelin's "The Immigrant Song," Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." The band called this Live Sampling^[1], although this term is in some way inaccurate as it implies that the band was using sampling for performance, when in fact the band was composed of a traditional "rock" lineup. This practice of live sampling was later used in live shows by such recording artists as Kid Rock (most notably his track "American Bad Ass" samples the Metallica track "Sad But True").

A free publication in Philadelphia, The City Paper, gave very good reviews of the band. at one point the main music editor called them "The band to watch out for" in 1990. While in Philly the band would play with many of the top acts at that time including Octababy, Throttle, Dandelion, Public Service, Scram, Mama Volume and others. While the band had its roots in the NJ/NY area, Philadelphia proved to be their most receptive market. Some of the most popular original music clubs in town featured the band and often sold out during their performances. JC Dobbs, The Arch Street Empire, Khyber Pass Pub, and The Trocadero were frequent venues for True Detectives.

• Ex-TD Guitarist Aldo Noboa runs the San Fransico branch of the Paul Green School of Rock.
• Mike McCann now plays in the NYC area with his wife in a band called Barbiana Complex

• truedetectives.com, website maintained by Brian Rhody, former bass player for True Detectives
• True Detectives MP3s, distributed by Brian Rhody.
• Personal flashback: True Detectives - A fan remembers the band.

• Barbiana Complex - MySpace page of former TD drummer Mike McCann's current band.

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