O Pioneers!!! - Black Mambas

The cyclical nature of underground music breaking into the mainstream, peaking, and giving way to new trends has seen modern punk rock intercept the spotlight twice in the past decade or so, if we pay no heed to semantics on what's "punk" and what isn't. Past years would have given credence to the statement that Epitaph Records and Fat Wreck Chords were the kings of the underground, despite the number of records sold or money spent on marketing, etc. But that's no longer the case. With the proliferation of downloading and the exclusiveness of the underground dwindling on a daily basis, the underground has exploded with so much music that's worth hearing, and there's just not the financial backing anymore for such a large amount of quality to be supported by labels. Epitaph and Fat Wreck are no longer held in the same esteem as in the past, and frankly, the bands on smaller scales are hungrier, more pissed-off, and generally more creative and interesting. O Pioneers!!!'s Black Mambas unfortunately won't escape the Against Me! and earlier Hot Water Music comparisons, but there's as much of an influence from early '80s Dischordian hardcore, maybe, and a lot of the stuff No Idea Records does. Throaty screaming and stripped-down songs (vocals, guitar, drums) recall the earliest Against Me!, but this duo most likely won't be trading its ideals in for a full band and a major label deal anytime soon, thankfully. The band's total disregard for silly things like staying in tune and paying attention to tonality is a welcome one, and Eric Solomon's grizzly bear vocals are complemented by his concern for the microcosm that is the punk underground--rock star images, becoming what you hated, the death of revolutions, etc. Personally, it's releases like this and the new Fake Problems EP that are getting me excited about the punk rock underground again. Maybe it never left, and my attention was focused elsewhere, but for a while it felt incredibly stagnant and exclusive. Here's to progression, inclusion, and good fucking times. [www.myspace.com]