The Soviettes

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The Soviettes
Soviettes2.jpg
The Soviettes playing a reunion show in 2010. Left to right: Susy, Danny, Annie, Sturgeon.
Background information
Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres Punk rock, pop punk [1]
Years active2001–2006, 2010-2011
Labels Adeline, Fat Wreck Chords, Dirtnap, Crustacean, Pop Riot
MembersAnnie "Sparrows" Holoien
Susy Sharp
Maren "Sturgeon" Macosko
Danny Henry
Past members Mikey "Erg" Yannich
Lane Pederson
Website The Soviettes on Facebook

The Soviettes were a punk rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 2001. The group is composed of Annie "Sparrows" Holoien (guitar), Maren "Sturgeon" Macosko (guitar), Susy Sharp (bass guitar), and Danny Henry (drums), all of whom share singing and songwriting duties.

Contents

History

Annie, originally from Fargo, North Dakota, met Sturgeon when she moved to Minneapolis in 1995. They started writing songs in 2001 and were joined by Susy shortly afterward with Lane Pederson on drums. The name originates from when Annie was serving coffee at a previous job, a customer offered "your band should be called The Soviettes" instead of a tip. [2] The band recorded their first EP, T.C.C.P. , the same year. Soon Annie asked Danny to play with them permanently. [3]

In 2003, The Soviettes released the first LP entitled LP on Adeline Records of Oakland, California.

In 2004, the band released their second LP entitled LP II , again on Adeline Records. The band was then noticed by Fat Wreck Chords in San Francisco, California and was shortly after signed with the label. The band released the song "Paranoia! Cha-Cha-Cha" for the compilation album Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 .

On June 28, 2005, the band's third LP entitled LP III was released on Fat Wreck Chords.

The members of The Soviettes had an association with the Minnesota RollerGirls with the single "Roller Girls" about the organization with backing vocals from some of the girls. [4]

They toured the United States extensively. Their final tour was a 50 state tour at the end of 2005 with Fat Wreck label-mates Against Me!, the Epoxies, and Smoke or Fire.

Breakup

In 2006 the band went on hiatus indefinitely. "I don't know why we broke up," said Danny Henry in 2007, "It was pretty natural. Bands are relationships, they're just more complicated because it's a four-way deal." [5]

Since The Soviettes' hiatus, Annie and Danny have continued playing music together as the punk rock duo The Awesome Snakes and later in Green/Blue. Sturgeon played in The Gateway District with Carrie (who also played with Sturgeon in The Salteens), as well as Nate from Banner Pilot and Brad from Dear Landlord (both of whom also played in Rivethead), and later formed Partial Traces also with Brad and Nate. Annie also performs with Bermuda Squares and the God Damn Doo Wop Band, and sometimes performs with Sturgeon in Partial Traces.

In 2019, the online magazine Consequence named the Soviettes No. 93 on its list of the best 100 pop-punk bands of all time. [6]

Reunions

The band reunited in 2010 for some shows. The first was on March 18, 2010 at Eclipse Records in St. Paul, MN. Next was March 19, 2010 at the Turf Club in St. Paul, MN. Both shows were record release shows for their Rarities album, released for free on Red Sound Records. [7] [8]

They also played at the Soda Bar in San Diego, CA on Sept 4th, 2010 as part of "Awesome Fest 4". [9]

On October 29, 2010 the band played at The Atlantic in Gainesville, FL as part of "Fest 9".

The band played 2 more shows in 2010, one at the Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, MN on 11/12/2010 and another at Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago, IL on 11/13/2010, the latter opening for The Methadones on their final show.

The band was scheduled to participate in "Weasel Fest", supporting Screeching Weasel at Reggie's Rock Club, Chicago, IL on 05/29/2011 but dropped off the bill following Ben Weasel's behavior at SXSW 2011. [10] They did play at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on 05/27/2011.

The band also played a live show at San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill Club on August 31, 2011.

Members

ANNIE plays guitar
STURGEON plays guitar
DANNY plays drums
SUSY plays bass
everybody sings

The Soviettes, LP II liner notes (2004) [11]

Current members

Past members

Discography

Albums

TitleRelease dateNotesLabel
LP 17 June 2003Rereleased on vinyl in 2005 by Crustacean Records. Adeline
LP II 13 April 2004Vinyl released by Learning Curve Records later that year.Adeline
LP III 28 June 2005220 albums released on pink vinyl. Fat Wreck Chords
Rarities 16 March 2010A collection of b-sides and raritiesRed Sound Records

EPs and singles

TitleRelease dateNotesLabel
T.C.C.P. 11 May 2002Released as a 7" vinyl only.Pop Riot
"Alright"12 October 2004B-side: "Plus One" Dirtnap
"Roller Girls"23 August 2005B-side: "Say So"Fat Wreck Chords

Splits

TitleRelease dateNotesLabel
The Soviettes/Valentines EP5 November 2002Pop Riot
The Havenot's/The Soviettes2003As both a four track vinyl distributed in the US and a six
track CD released only in Japan on Star Jets Records		Nice & Neat

Compilations

TitleRelease dateSoviettes TracksLabel
No Hold Back... All Attack!!!2002Twin Cities SoundHavoc Records and Distribution
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 104/20/2004¡Paranoia! Cha-Cha-Cha Fat Wreck Chords
Protect: A Benefit for ... 10/18/2005Middle of the Night Fat Wreck Chords
21st Century Power Pop Riot 06/06/2006Goodbye to You (vocal by Annie) Red Scare Industries

Reception

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References

  1. ↑ Silver, Kate (October 9, 2006). "Pretty in Pinko - Smashing the state of punk rock with Minneapolis' Soviettes". Seattle Weekly . Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Soviettes". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
  3. ↑ Marsh, Steve (September 18, 2002). "The Revolution Will Be Illustrated". City Pages . Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Vinyl". Minnesota Rollergirls Online Store. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  5. ↑ Scholtes, Peter S. (September 19, 2007). "The Curse". City Pages . Archived from the original on July 8, 2011.
  6. ↑ "The 100 Best Pop Punk Bands". Consequence . June 5, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  7. ↑ "The Soviettes reunite for rarities album and show - Minneapolis / St. Paul Music - Gimme Noise". Archived from the original on 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  8. ↑ "Red Sound Records - Free Music For The People". Archived from the original on 2010-11-08. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  9. ↑ "San Diego Punk - Awesome Fest Schedule". Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
  10. ↑ Yancey, Byrne (March 21, 2011). "The Soviettes, Chinese Telephones, Teenage Bottlerocket drop from Weasel Fest". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  11. ↑ LP II (booklet). The Soviettes. Oakland, CA: Adeline Records. 2004. p. 6. AR032.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ↑ Green, Loren (Dec 22, 2012). "Interviews: The Soviettes (Fest 11)". Scene Point Blank. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved Oct 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ Harmon, Rod (August 6, 2004). "Soviettes tear down punk wall". Sarasota Herald-Tribune . Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  14. ↑ Grose, Jessica (July 5, 2005). "Artist of the Day - the Soviettes". SPIN . Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  15. ↑ White, Jason (August 1, 2004). "The Soviettes". Thrasher . Retrieved February 28, 2013.
  16. Jensen, Christopher Matthew (Apr 2, 2008). "France Has the Bomb, but no leader". Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
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