Upcoming Releases

Dead Pioneers announce ther new album PO$T AMERICAN out 11th April on Hassle Records and share the second single from the album, the title track "PO$T AMERICAN."

On the single, vocalist and songwriter, Gregg Deal says: "We, like many people in our communities, are incensed by the overt and jarring political and social moves of United States Politics. From the current administration to the administrations before it, there has been a trajectory in this country that has brought us to the critical moment we are all looking at. Our hope in this song, is maybe, just maybe we are saying something you feel too. "PO$T AMERICAN" is an unapologetic song.

I wrote this song on White people’s day of Independence, July 4, 2024. I wrote it sitting next to my oldest son while watching fireworks and having a discussion on what this day was supposed to mean. It went into a discussion of everything that was happening in that moment. Little did I know at the exact moment, that the relevant things would escalate, and become more stark. This was written to be scathing, honest, saying the quiet thing out loud. As we look upon the United States political landscape, this is very much how we feel."

How can an album sum up a point in time? Can it capture or presage the mood and state of a nation? This second album by Dead Pioneers suggests so: PO$T AMERICAN is the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end.

Written in February and recorded in July, it pre-empts the 2024 American election but wraps up the fears and frustrations as eloquently and, crucially, humourously as their self-titled debut, released by Hassle Records in August 2024.

Dead Pioneers is fronted by renowned visual and performance artist, Gregg Deal, the band combines a DIY ethos with a mission to champion the rights of marginalized communities, including Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQ+, and workers' rights. With a North American Indigenous vocalist at its helm, the band unapologetically confronts social, political, and cultural issues—a focus central to their identity.

This ethos is at the heart of PO$T AMERICAN, which forecasts the turmoil of the 2024 American election while reflecting on the fears and disillusionments of modern life. “The title PO$T AMERICAN reflects a collective disillusionment with the so-called American Dream,” explains Deal. “It critiques capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy while imagining a path toward unity beyond those oppressive systems.”

PO$T AMERICAN balances minute-long punk explosions, impassioned explorations of modern-day America and spoken-word interludes elegantly, the shifts in form and tone not distracting from the central themes. The aural palate is broadly the same as their debut, but feels expanded, stronger somehow: drawing on the confrontational writing of Rage Against The Machine, the unapologetic voice of Chuck D and Public Enemy, the storytelling of Johnny Cash, the evolution of IDLES, and punk stalwarts including Black Flag, Rollins Band and Dead Kennedys.

Overall the resulting feeling is one of cautious optimism: “Although we didn’t expect the political relevance to become more relevant, we have no illusions to the American dream, or to where we seem to be going. But we have hope that we can get to a better place for people to have what they need.” It is an album that speaks to and for this precise time and place; that perhaps could not exist at any other time. It is an album for now.

Dead Pioneers is made up of guitarists Josh Rivera and Abe Brennan, drummer Shane Zweygardt and bassist Lee Tesche (who is also lead guitarist for Algiers), with Gregg Deal on vocals. Deal is an artist and activist and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. Much of his work includes exhaustive critiques of American colonialism, society, politics, popular culture and history. With this work - including paintings, murals and performance art - Deal critically examines issues within Indian country such as decolonisation, stereotype and appropriation. He has exhibited his work at cultural centres nationally and internationally, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Venice Biennale. After living in the Washington DC area for 17 years, Deal moved his family to Colorado, coinciding with his time as Native Arts Artist-In-Residence at the Denver Art Museum.

PO$T AMERICAN tracklist:

1. A.I.M.
2. PO$T AMERICAN
3. My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal
4. Pit Song
5. The Caucasity
6. Mythical Cowboys
7. Dead Pioneers
8. White Wine
9. Juicy Fruit (Ode to Chief Bromden)
10. STFU
11. Bloodletting Carnival
12. Love Language
13. Fire and Ash
14. Working Class Warfare
15. Untitled Spoken Word No. 2