(Young) Pioneers

While it may be inaccurate to refer to it as a hiatus, the fact that Washington state punks Young Pioneers have reformed some 25 years after dissolving their band in 1987 is certainly noteworthy. Equally impressive is the fact that the band, featuring three of its original four members, is back with 12 brand new songs that constitute their first full-length release, surely making this one of the longest-awaited debuts on record.

During the projects two-and-a-half decade absence, its members kept plenty busy with various other musical endeavours; most notable of which were guitarist Brad Sweek’s run with Kathleen Hanna’s Viva Knievel, and singer/guitarist Chris Pugh’s founding of Nirvana-era Sub Pop act, Swallow. Granted, some years have passed even since then, although the downtime has earned Young Pioneers’ primary songwriting duo some valuable perspective and the distractions that accompany that lifestyle have long since run their course.

The wittily titled High Again was recorded at K Record’s Olympia-based Dub Narcotic Studios and lead single, Sick Inside, recalls some of the spirit that birthed an entire subculture. Through its scrappy delivery and fully analogue production, Young Pioneers have recaptured some of the teen angst that one can only imagine seeps from the walls inside the legendary label’s studio, and have refined it into a style of their own that sits somewhere between the visceral honesty of Bright Eyes and the brazenness of The Sex Pistols.