Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers was an American punk rock band from

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

History

In 1997, the band was formed in

by four friends who met there in

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

. 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. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth. Hist ...

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 to ...

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

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

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

and Radio Birdman) and

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

(à la

the Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington (state), Washington that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worl ...

) 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 (drums ...

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: A ...

, 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 m ...

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

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 London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

and rereleased those two EPs as a 37-minute punk

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

: ''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 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, to ...

, 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'', founded in August 1996, was the oldest alternative weekly newspaper in Southern Nevada and covered news about the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Coverage included news, politics, arts, and culture reporting in prin ...

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

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

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