Action rock

Action Rock is a sub genre of rock and roll. It refers to bands that play high energy music influenced by the MC5, the Stooges and similar. The term was coined by Nicke Royale of the Hellacopters to refer to the kind of music played at the time (mid to late 1990s and early 2000s) by his own band and others with similar ethos and sounds, like Gluecifer, Turbonegro, the Peepshows, the Sewergrooves etc. Many of these bands were Scandinavian, but there were Action Rock bands all over the world, including American Bands like Adam West and Electric Frankenstein.

Inspirational bands playing high energy rock and roll were viewed retroactively as Action Rock bands. These included the aforementioned MC5 and Stooges, but also Sonic's Rendezvous Band, Bob Seger System and various others.

The name Action Rock is a play on the nickname of Stooges drummer Scott Rock Action Asheton. In reverse it sounds like a specific sub genre, like Blues Rock or Pop Rock.