Rocky & The Sweden – Punks Pot Head

I’ve been spending a fair amount of hard-earned cash tracking down some of my favorite Japanese hardcore punk records, and as much as I love that scene, I’ve never really been into big labels like Relapse Records getting involved. It’s hard not to look at these reissues and think it’s big part a money grab scheme off the renewed hype around a scene that used to feel a lot more obscure. Still, I can’t deny it’s cool to see bands like Zouo and Lip Cream getting reissued in larger quantities and becoming easier to find.

After releasing their split with Boris in 2022, Relapse now follows it up with a special early singles collection, 1998’s debut Total Hard Core reissue, and a new full-length from Tokyo and Yokohama’s Rocky & The Sweden. The band formed back in 1996 by singer Rocky and drummer Koba Sweden (who’s also played in legends like Bastard, Disarm and Systematic Death). They’ve never really taken themselves too seriously, and because of that they’ve been releasing records more sporadically over the years rather than sticking to any strict pace.

You can tell what they’re about straight away with records like Total Hard Core (aka THC), God Save The Green, and City Baby Attacked By Buds. Between the artwork and the hilarious weed references, it would be easy to mistake them for some stoner or psychedelic-influenced band. Musically though, they’re firmly rooted in ’90s Japcore… more about burning spliffs than burning spirits.

Punks Pot Head delivers eleven tracks that sound as fresh and energetic as ever, sticking to the band’s formula of fast, fist-pumping songs with that classic Japanese sense of dramatic riffing and NWOBHM-influenced leads. You can still hear the touch of Death Side, Paintbox and Lip Cream, but it never feel rehashed. The production is also really solid, and I can see this record reaching beyond the usual Japcore crowd, maybe even pleasing the Relapse crowd who lean more toward slower, stoner-influenced stuff.

Rocky’s vocals are still top-tier Japanese punk, and the song titles are as tongue-in-cheek as ever, like “Up In Smoke”, “Burning Again (One More Burn)”, “THC”, and “Rub The Magic Bong”. Rocky & The Sweden have also outdone themselves with the cover artwork this time, a skeleton riding a grasshopper through a marijuana field. I should probably admit that, being straight edge, I’ve never paid as much attention to this band. I tend to focus a lot on the lyrics, and yeah, this band can come off a way too cheesy and anti-straightedge for my taste.

I originally wanted to put this review out on 4/20, but just barely missed the deadline, so here we are, publishing this a few days later anyway. “Punks pot head” is not a slogan I stand behind, but that’s a record that shines with verve and originality through and through.