Razorcake #141 (August 2024/September 2024) – New Zine

Razorcake #141 It’s 2024, not 1977. How is it that there’s still music being made today that I’ve been thirsty for, but I didn’t exactly know what it’d sound like? You know, besides it sounding punk. Dead Pioneers fill a void I knew was inside of me; I just didn’t know how large that void was. That’s part of punk’s ever-evolving magic. It hasn’t all been played out. Punk’s not just a dead tread flapping around a wobbly wheel, slowly veering to a stop in an unmarked final resting place.I’m going to pitch Dead Pioneers as spoken word accompanied by dynamic, bombastic, intricate punk played in service to a message. It’s explosive and penetrative. For me, their self-titled debut LP is terrible background music. I can’t do any work when it’s playing because Gregg Deal’s voice is front and center and he’s worthy of full attention. From the first bars of the first song, “Tired,” all my focus gets sucked into his proclamation of: “America is a pyramid scheme and you ain’t at the top! / Your