Album Reviews

Dead Pioneers started from a performance art piece created in 2020 by Indigenous artist/activist and card-carrying member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Gregg Deal, called ‘The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy’. When Deal wanted to create music for the performance, it ended up evolving into a full-fledged band, Dead Pioneers. The band’s self-titled album was originally released by the band themselves, but has now received a proper treatment by Hassle Records.

Taking cues from Black Flag and The Minutemen via Suicidal Tendencies and Rage Against The Machine through to La Dispute or Idles, Deal - along with guitarist Josh Rivera, drummer Shane Zweygardt and bassist Lee Tesche - uses humour as a way to tackles complex themes and stands up for the voiceless with a spoken-word approach and furious blasts of punk energy. Think Henry Rollins at his best.

Clocking in at just 22 minutes, ‘Dead Pioneers’ is simultaneously a look back at what punk rock used to stand for, as well as an unfortunately still current look at what it means to be a Native American in today’s United States. And while that all sounds like this album could be a complete downer, it actually is a ton of fun to listen to. Angry, but delivered in a wry, sarcastic way that rivals Drug Church’s Patrick Kindlon’s lyrics, Deal’s lyrics are backed up by the kind of moshpit-inducing riffs and rhythms that make it the - pardon the bad pun - real Deal.

Dead Pioneers track listing:

1. Tired
2. We Were Punk First
3. Moving Day
4. The Punchline
5. Bad Indian
6. The Art Of Savagery
7. Rage
8. Dreamcatcher
9. World Up My Ass
10. Political Song
11. Doom Indian
12. No One Owns Anything And Death Is Real