ROCKY&TheSWEDEN

About

Rocky & The Sweden formed in 1996 when bassist Takeshi Sweden recruited drummer Masaaki "Koba" Sweden -- both veterans of Tokyo's hardcore royalty, with Masaaki coming from Bastard and Systematic Death, and Takeshi from Sweats and Idora. They met vocalist Rocky at a beach gathering, and the chemistry was immediate: raging hardcore punk driven by rock 'n' roll hooks and an unabashed love of marijuana. From the jump, they made cannabis legalization their lyrical and aesthetic identity, decades before it became remotely acceptable in Japan's notoriously strict drug culture. The band hit the ground running with the 1997 EP "Hardcore Grasshoppers" and the 1998 debut LP "Total Hard Core," followed by the revered sophomore album "God Save the Green" in 2000. Then silence -- personal problems forced the band into hibernation from 2005 until a one-off reunion show in 2013. Full operations resumed in 2016, and the comeback has been ferocious: the "Green Riot" 7" and "City Baby Attacked By Buds" LP arrived in 2019, followed by a split LP with Boris on Relapse Records in 2022. Now signed to Relapse, their fourth full-length "Punks Pot Head" dropped in January 2026 alongside reissues of the entire back catalog. The current five-piece lineup -- Rocky, Takeshi Sweden, Masaaki Sweden, Iga Sweden (ex-Liquid), and S-Park Sweden (Irie Boys) -- is, by their own account, the strongest the band has ever fielded. A West Coast US tour is locked for May 2026. Nobody in Japanese hardcore does it quite like this.

Recent Shows

• Sat, Mar 28, 2026El PuenteEMPTY NOTION vol.29Details

Venue History