Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers was an American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band from

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

History

In 1997, the band was formed in

by four friends who met there in

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

. They named their group—of frontman Marty Larson-Xu, guitarist Kevin Sciou, bassist Evan Seroffsky, and drummer Oliver Brown—after a

Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. ''Classic Rock'' magazine describes them as "Australia’s first influential punk band". History Origins Deniz Tek and Rob Younger f ...

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

of the same name. The band's early music tended to focus on the band's hometown and their dissatisfaction therewith;

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

described this work as

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

(modeled after

the Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

and Radio Birdman) and

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

(à la

the Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspir ...

) Rock 'N' Roll Soldiers waded into professional performances with West-Coast openings for

the Donnas The Donnas were an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1993. The band consisted of Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Torry Castellano (dr ...

and

New Bomb Turks The New Bomb Turks are an American punk rock band formed at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States, in 1990. The founding members are Jim Weber, Eric Davidson, Bill Randt, and Matt Reber. Sam Brown replaced Bill Randt on drums i ...

. After the band signed with

Gearhead Records Gearhead Records is an independent record label based in Northern California which grew out of ''Gearhead'' magazine. Magazine and festivals The organization, originally a magazine, has also hosted festivals. Wrote ''Exclaim!'' in 2003: Art ...

, for whom they produced two

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

s (EP), they signed to

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

and rereleased those two EPs as a 37-minute punk

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

: ''The Two EPs''. By 2005, the band was "touring constantly" and polishing their next album, ''So Many Musicians to Kill'' (expected spring 2006).

Music

The band's first EP is ''The High School Sessions'', and the second is ''Weak Blame the Strong''. When East West requested the band to change their name from Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers, the band recorded "Anthem" in protest; the 154-second lead

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from ''The Two EPs'' proclaims six times in the chorus, "We're the motherfucking Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers".

's James Montgomery praised its

punk music Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

aesthetic, saying it "sounds like it was recorded on

masking tape Masking tape, also known as painter's tape, is a type of pressure-sensitive tape made of a thin and easy-to-tear paper, and an easily released pressure-sensitive adhesive. It is available in a variety of widths. It is used mainly in painting, ...

, dropped on the floor and then flushed down the toilet. The end result is skuzzy, sleazy punk tailored for drinking, fighting and tattooing". In 2005, Jeff Inman with ''

Las Vegas CityLife ''Las Vegas CityLife'' was an American Alternative newspaper, alternative weekly newspaper founded in August 1996. It was the oldest such newspaper in Southern Nevada and covered news about the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Coverage inc ...

'' concurred, claiming that only Larson-Xu's profanities kept "Anthem" from "selling

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

s by the thousands."

Discography

References

{{authority control 1997 establishments in Oregon Garage rock groups from Oregon Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from Eugene, Oregon Punk rock groups from Oregon Gearhead Records artists