Dead Pioneers to release new album ‘PO$T AMERICAN’ out 11th April on Hassle Records

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.

“Currently, we are amidst the gross existence of capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy and the many oppressive forces that have come to inform everything around us,” says vocalist and songwriter Gregg Deal. “The title PO$T AMERICAN informs a collective disenfranchisement and disillusionment to the so-called American dream, while moving forward with hope of a desired designation of unity outside those that would use us for their own capitalistic power grab.”

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, but it 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.

The opening track, “A.I.M.”, is a tribute to the American Indian Movement, starting with the American Indian Movement song before being overcome by distortion. “This is on the record as homage” explains Deal, “but also in understanding that the record itself is a protest to the great experiment that is the United States of America, and its many imposed issues.”

First single “My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal” illustrates the cohesiveness inherent in this album: a tangible development built from the band spending more time together. “We took this album seriously in knowing that the sophomore effort for any band is a make or break moment,” says Deal. “This feels like an extension to the first record, and we learned a lot from that, so we wrote with that in mind for sure: thinking it over, working through ideas and inspirations with a deliberate effort.” The lyricism in this track sums up the balance inherent in Dead Pioneers. Huge, meaty issues (‘Fight a man with nothing to lose’) leavened with endlessly quotable humour (‘Robbing us like Lily Gladstone!’).

Despite it being written and recorded earlier in 2024, the album feels prescient and reflective of today’s wider (inter)national mood. “What we wrote was relevant politically and socially. We felt good about it, and moved forward in that confidence,” say the band. “It’s sad that scathing statements about fascism, white supremacy and racism in the American political landscape are somehow more relevant just because of an election, but here we are.”

“The Caucasity” is a killer title, alluding to white audacity and entitlement, which balances anger with a kind of resigned weariness: ‘My people are special or magical, or … something’.  Gregg explains that “usage of the word among BIPOC folks becomes an important concept in defining spaces that haven’t quite been defined before”. These excoriating investigations into America place Gregg as an interlocutor, mediating between people and state.

“Mythical Cowboys” is another brilliant example of the judicious use of humour to frame these topics, taking on the all-American hero John Wayne as a ‘Fakeass cowboy’ or the ‘Best cowboy that never existed’. “So much of Indigenous existence is rooted in the perception of our existence and not in the reality of our existence, so this song comes from a place of perspective,” explains Gregg. “When non-Native people have an idea of what an Indigenous person is, it is 100% through the eyes of people like John Wayne or Kevin Costner. Our existence ends up being a footnote to the journey of a white man in a cowboy hat, used to justify him and his ‘goodness’.” Hence the inclusion of the masterful couplet: ‘Kevin Costner, where you at; you got your cowboy hat? The saviour of the west, a fucking liar in a cowboy vest!’.

“Juicy Fruit (Ode to Chief Bromden)’” is a nod to the character from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, which the band believe is “one of the most important films in providing some progression of humanizing Native people in cinema”. As well as being the first contemporary Native person in modern cinema, he is also in a mental health facility: “While the story of the film is about the issues of mental health care in this time and place, Bromden could have been any one of us. The relationship that he has with the audience supersedes race, but relies on emotion and experience.” This universality of connection is reflected in the line: “He represents you, he represents me”.

The band’s ability to capture the ear and mind with a pointed phrase continues into “Love Letter’”, which contains some powerful lines, such as: “A manly definition to be free, includes a shooting spree” and “Your sexism is going to kill us all”. Ren Aldridge, the lead vocalist for Petrol Girls, adds vocals to the track. On her involvement, Gregg says: “Her delivery, voice and writing are just so charged, and we saw this as a chance to try to rise to the challenge of writing something hard and important”.

“Dismantling concepts of ‘maleness’ and patriarchy with my own voice felt important to do,” he continues. “Much of my statement surrounds the male incel discussion and efforts to demean or belittle women and queer people through the lens of toxic masculinity. I love this song. Ren, of course, blew me out of the water, as it should be”.

The closing track “Untitled Spoken Word No. 2” is about: “Pointing out the common, and seemingly strange aspect of being a Native person in a western world and what that navigation looks like. It is maddening and funny and frustrating.” In the lyricism and imagery, it is something of a callback to the first album; giving people ‘Indian names’, and ‘Sometimes, the only good pioneer is a dead pioneer’. “Conversational spoken word is absolutely related to the first record. Don’t see it going away anytime. I also love the opportunity to use my Native language too,” says Gregg.

“America is a country of immigrants who have assimilated to being ‘American’, whatever that means. Personally I am proud to be a member of my Tribal community first and foremost, and also happen to be having an ‘American’ experience.”

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.

The band 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.

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