O Pioneers!!! - Neon Creeps (cassette)
A few months back I stumbled on a website for a record label called Quote Unquote. They follow the download and donate model bands like Radiohead and more recently Paul Westerberg have tested out to much controversy. It’s one thing if you’re Radiohead and can afford to have people give you a penny for your album. It’s another thing when you’re a bunch of struggling punk bands though. On the one hand it’s just a really fucking punk thing to do. On the other hand you’re banking on the fact that an often-fickle punk community will do the right thing and support your band afterward.
One of the things I downloaded that day was an album called “Neon Creeps” by O Pioneers!!!. I had heard of them before but not heard them. Initially it sat on my iPod for some time and then one day a song came on shuffle called Chris Ryan Added Me On Facebook. Like most people I have Facebook even though I secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) hate it. The whole idea that you have all these “friends” online is just fucking stupid. Real friends are there for you when you need them, not just names on a list that post inane observations on your “wall” (whatever that is). So as I drove to work and listened on, I was kicking myself for not listening to the rest of this album sooner. These guys were bringing a smile on my face during my morning commute with this song about pretending to be friends with someone that knew you in high school when you were still an asshole. And winning me over in the morning is no easy task as this isn’t exactly my favorite time of day. O Pioneers!!! are one of these gnarled “earnest” punk bands a la Hot Water Music, and Leatherface (you will read this comparison everywhere that mentions this band but it fits so I wrote it too). They also remind me of another band that I love though. The Broadways. And like much of The Broadways lyrics, “Neon Creeps” is full of songs of frustration, confusion, anger, and a general disdain for other people and their opinions.
So on my way home from work that same day I put the entire album on my Ipod to listen to. It grew on me instantly and I started to feel like a douche for not paying for it. Now I was going to buy this on vinyl but saw they were also offering it on cassette for 3 bucks so I went that route. It wasn’t because I was being cheap either. I hold a special place in my heart for cassettes (I have a tattoo of one on my arm to prove it). Plus it’s not every day that I even get to turn on my cassette deck anymore, so it gave me a reason to fire it up. They only made 250 of them and they’re available now from Mightier Than Sword Records. The vinyl is available on Kiss of Death Records, and the CD on Asian Man Records. And if you’re unsure, download it and then decide after if it’s worth buying or at least donating a couple bucks for having listened to it.
I guess my point in all of this is that it’s important to support bands that are out there doing something you dig. It’s always nice to get something for free, especially when you’re broke. But if you keep taking and taking soon there’s nothing left. Go to shows. Buy a shirt or some buttons at a merch table. Get a nice slab of vinyl or a sweet cassette at your local record store or online. Spread the word on message boards and blogs. Keep the whole thing going.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Amen!!! Love cassettes. More than any other format. The fact that you can carry them in your pocket and still have the artwork and detailed liner notes — they were like what a paperback is to a hardcover. And because the case was sturdy, yet small, you could use it to store contraband. You can’t carry vinyl around on the bus or at school, work, etc (unless you don’t mind looking like an asshole) and you cant carry cds around because they’re too frickin fragile. Cassettes are tough as nails.
I also kinda miss how the tape would derail after years of constant playing or after playing them on a bum player, which is all most of us ever owned. At that point, playing the cassette was almost like gambling. When the tape flew off the spools, did you give up? Hell no! You couldn’t. You didn’t have another $7.99. You had to figure out a way to get the tape out of the gears on the player, flatten it out, and get it back into the cassette. You really had to work for your music. It developed ingenuity. Problem solving skills.
And what I miss the most about cassettes — the smell. That’s right, call me weird (and I’m sure your PITA wife will…for YEARS) but I miss the way cassettes smelled. They didn’t all smell the same though. There’s a special place in my heart for that sweet plastic and camphor smell of the best cassettes. Roadrunner put out the best smelling cassettes if I remember correctly. Atlantic was pretty good too. TDK was good for blank cassettes. Smell wasn’t as strong but it was good for what you were paying.
Biohazard’s Urban Discipline — pretty mediocre album but the cassette smelled like fried heaven. Faith No More’s The Real Thing smelled delicious. I listened to Life of Agony’s River Runs Red every day in 1993. The aroma was intoxicating. Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was pretty weak but it smelled like Number of the Beast Sounded. Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime — MMMM….
So I guess what I’m saying is…I’d like to know how it smelled.
I must’ve smelled that tape for a good five minutes. Nothing. I’ll have to bring it to you for a second opinion.