There are times in 2026 when it’s tempting to think that the world is beset by racist scum. That, even, in a wild moment, Enoch Powell might have been right. You can watch the news and see Yaxley-Lennon and his knuckle-dragging acolytes draped in either the cross, the flag, or both, and think you’re alone.
Christ, I’ve literally just turned the news off and some piece of filth has gone round stabbing brown people in Edinburgh to “protect” the race, or something. He probably votes Restore Britain, like all the other halfwits.
Step forward Dead Pioneers as part of the resistance. An Indigenous-fronted band from Denver, with chief rabble-rouser Gregg Deal amongst them, they offer these words on “Nazi Teeth,” the first single from “Wagon Burner”: “I will gladly punch you in your white power face, make you feel my red power race.”
Let’s go.
That one comes after his manifesto. Giving no thought to the likes of Lincoln or George Washington, “Dead Presidents” sets the tone.
“…Teeth,” though – the first to feature special guests, with Cheap Perfume joining in the frenzy – is a vicious punk rocker. And that’s mostly where this lives.
“A Message From Mr Bell” reckons “none of us are free till everyone is free,” while “No Kings” reckons “America’s best export is lies.” The delivery is deliberately and proudly confrontational, calling for class war before the end.
“Animals That Roam The Earth” is as barren as Killing Joke, and the guitar solo is perfect.
Ska-punk kings The Interrupters add some melody that is essentially a poem on the superb “Never Alone,” which finds bonds in the disparate.
Sleaford Mods are the bedrock of “The Worst Among Us,” and the nihilism on display is mirrored by the sound. Yet there’s hope. Merely in the fact it exists at all. That someone had the bravery to put this record out at all.
That’s the point of the brilliant “Seeing Red,” which explores righteous anger. Deal spits the lines of injustice over a crushing soundtrack in an almost stream-of-consciousness fashion. “My only crime is being Indigenous in the 21st century,” he yells here with a laser-guided focus.
“Circle Jerk The Wagons” is the fastest and nastiest thing on offer, moshpit-ready. “Accountability isn’t a cost you’re willing to pay” might be the best slogan here.
“Zealots” is what the aforementioned Sleaford Mods would sound like if they had guitars, as it takes on a different side.
“Nobody” takes up the cause of Indigenous people in an insightful and thoughtful way amid some ominous music.
“L.F.G.” – which stands for “Let’s Fucking Go” – asks if you believe in unity, and has a gang vocal that the likes of Pennywise or Dropkick Murphys would approve of.
“It’s about community. The stranger you have more in common with than any billionaire dickhead,” says Deal here, and we’re still in the trickle-down world, paying for the sins of that bitch Thatcher and her no-such-thing-as-society bullshit.
And ok, Dead Pioneers might be preaching to the converted a little, but that doesn’t stop “Wagon Burner” being album of the year so far.
Woody said his machine killed fascists. Gregg Deal doesn’t think that goes far enough. Dead Pioneers want to piss on their graves.
Rating: 10/10
