Song of the Day: Soldiers Of Fortune (feat. Stephen Malkmus) - Campus Swagger

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Campus Swagger” by Soldiers Of Fortune (feat. Stephen Malkmus) from the 2015 album Early Risers, on Mexican Summer.

Soldiers Of Fortune (feat. Stephen Malkmus) - Campus Swagger (MP3)

Soldiers of Fortune are not a band. The group was formed in 2004 by Interpol touring member Brad Truax as an "anti-band," with the battle cry that they were "never gonna write songs, never gonna practice, never gonna record music, make any product for public consumption, or ever hit the road."

For a "band" who were never gonna do anything, Truax sure did recruit an army of New York's finest, including Kid Millions (Man Forever, Oneida), Barry London (Oneida), Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Zwan), Jesper Eklow (Endless Boogie), Brad Truax (Interpol), and Mike Bones (Oneida). As if that's not enough, for their sophomore full-length Early Risers, they've recruited guest musicians Cass McCombs, Dan Melchior, Comets on Fire's Ethan Miller, and on this track, ex-Pavement/current-Jicks frontman Stephen Malkmus. Sounding like a countrified Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Malkmus leads the retro ramshackle with his distinctive yelps and stream-of-consciousness lyrics ("Pearl Jam all-stars five are nothing but terrier bait..." -- is that what he's saying?).

As an anti-band, there are no Twitter nor Facebook accounts to follow, and the band claim they'll never tour, so there are no dates to report. As they write in their press release, "DO NOT CONTACT US. Thank You." But you can watch this fan-shot footage below of the band at Max Fish in New York City with Malkmus last fall: