Straight Outta Junior High rocks in the real world

By day, they're just like every other nine-to-fiver on the street: A pharmacist, a financial adviser, a restaurant manager and a hotel worker.

But when the sun goes down, these four seemingly normal guys transform into the pop-punk bad responsible for songs like "Tina Fey," "Dudes and Guys and Things and Stuff," "Statutory Rape (Not OK)" and "Boner." The band is Straight Outta Junior High (SOJH) and according to them, they're "probably the best band in the world."

Though humility might not seem to be their forte, SOJH has been doing it the hard way for long enough to flaunt a cocky disposition. They've gone their entire career – nine years and five albums – without the aid of a label.

They did it all on their own.

"We're not ‘commercially viable,'" said guitarist, songwriter and financial adviser Nate Olson, "But it's not so bad, we own the rights to all our music… (and) we get some freedom and independence out of it."

"Commercially viable" or not, these guys don't seem to care. They've never been in it for anything more than having a good time. Music for SOJH is less about making money and more about feeding something inside themselves.

"I would like to be rich and famous … but I kinda do it more for me actually," said drummer Matt Tatroe.

Their brand of music is a dying breed, reminiscent of ‘90s pop-punk, like Blink 182 and The Dead Milkmen.

"It's punk, but it's goofy," Olson said. "We don't take ourselves too seriously."

That idea of not caring too much has been ingrained in the band's DNA since day one.

"Our band started in 2000, we played a battle of the bands … and we were terrible. That should've been our last show," Olson said, "But for whatever reason, we kept at it, and now we're here."

"Here" is a hard place to describe, however.

Musically, Olson compares their sound to "staying out all night with four chicks and then sleeping through your first period physics class, and fill in the blanks with what you're doing there. Maybe you're studying, maybe not."

But career-wise, these boys have done everything you can think of without selling out.

"We started this as a joke… and now we've opened for almost all my favorite bands over the years," Olson said.

That joke has evolved and matured into a much different concept than it was nine years ago.

"Musically, we've gotten smarter," said bassist Louie Stites. "We've developed a more mature sense of humor.

"My dance moves have gotten way better. We've also all gotten a lot better looking."

So, with nine years and hundreds of shows opening for bands like Lit and the Plain White T's, the unsung musical heroes known as Straight Outta Junior High should be able to put on a show worth seeing.

"It's going be a pretty good show," Olson said, "We've memorized our songs so we can play them all from memory."

If for no other reason than seeing a band who remembers their own songs, check out Straight Outta Junior High playing at Knickerbockers with an early show at 6:00 p.m. for all ages featuring Hot From Far and Gorilla Warfare. The late show at 9:30 p.m. will feature The Killigans and The J.V. All Stars. Both shows will have a $5 cover charge.

"It's awesome music for awesome people," Tatroe said.