In 1981, the brothers Chip and Tony Kinman split up their influential political punk band The Dils, based in Carlsbad, California, and departed for the East.
[2] Their second album, 1984's Long Gone Dead,[2] included a cover version of a tune by Lefty Frizzell, and made use of traditional country instrumentation such as a steel guitar and fiddle.
[1] Chicago Tribune music critic Tom Popson emphasized the band's employment of "a lot of Johnny Cash-style rockabilly guitar lines" as part of that particular project.
The band's third and final release, Rank and File on Rhino Records,[2] introduced Bobby Kahr on drums, replacing Evans.
Released in 1987, it marked a move from traditional country to more pop-oriented country-tinged fare, which the band deemed "a little easier for the normal person to pick up on".
[1] In 2006, Tony Kinman discussed how the delay in recording the third album damaged Rank and File's career and caused them to lose their desire.
[4] While continuing to espouse their personal political views, the Kinmans saw their new band as a more entertaining departure from the intensity of hardcore punk, embracing the sound and cultural ambience of country music, albeit with a post-punk spin.
In a 1986 interview with Flipside magazine, bassist Tony Kinman emphasized the band's willingness to shatter stylistic preconceptions to become trendsetters: "We're brave, we're not afraid to do stuff, most people are.