Gregg Deal has a warning for everyone: “America is a pyramid scheme, and you ain’t on top!” The self-proclaimed “Bad Indian” behind the new Denver punk band Dead Pioneers delivers that blunt assessment in the opening track “Tired” from the band’s 2023 self-titled first album. It’s a scathing indictment of capitalism, racism, sexism, and every insidious side of prejudice and corruption pulsing through contemporary American society.
Delivered in aggressive spoken word against a backdrop of riveting punk guitar riffs from veteran punk rockers Josh Rivera and Abe Brennan, the song launches a new band, a new sound, and a necessary, timely new voice in punk rock music. Though Deal ends the song by acknowledging, “I’m so very, very tired,” he has channeled that centuries-long weariness into a powerful, energetic music project that projects a bold social consciousness.