Dead Pioneers - "Mythical Cowboys"

Photo by Daniel Ulibarri

Denver's Dead Pioneers may be the best punk band around in 2025. The band, led by North American Indigenous performance artist Gregg Deal, has a new single out, "Mythical Cowboys." This is a song that straddles the worlds of punk and metal with Deal's trademark spoken word vocals. The track is a blistering takedown of our obsession with cowboys, and specifically targets John Wayne and Dances with Wolves. As venomous as "Mythical Cowboys" is, there is a surprising amount of groove, which is Dead Pioneers' secret weapon. We've been loving every release from these guys since discovering them last year, and each release leaves us wanting more.

Gregg Deal says of his band's latest single:

"In 1990, when I was a sophomore in high school, Dances with Wolves came out. Like many, in the initial viewing of what would later win an Oscar for best film, I was enamoured and confused. 

"Seeing something Indigenously familiar when you’re young can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming, to be sure, but something was amiss. Without the language to articulate what it I would later come to a place of understanding the Hollywood trope of white saviorism. 

"My mother’s adopted father, a white man, would express his love for John Wayne, a common hero for his generation. As someone who has always been treated as a Native person, good, bad or indifferent, his glare has always left me uncomfortable. 

"The narrative of the cowboy and Indian is a myth. A storyline used to sell books, films, photos, and paintings, but a storyline with the nefarious purpose of supplanting the existence of Native people as the enemy of Colonial Settlerism, a structure backed by religious belief of divinity and righteous purpose. Please note: if your righteous purpose includes the death of others, it’s not righteous. The existence of this narrative undermines Indigenous rights, existence and assertion to the authority of our own homelands. 

"Costner embodies the white obsession with westward expansion, casting aside the truth for romanticism. If we were honest, westerns would look more like a horror movie than the romantic dribble that arrives on the silver screen. This need to romanticize western exceptionalism through a narrative of romantic nationalism is the obsession of the so-called righteous religious nationalism perpetuated through people like Kevin Costner and John Wayne. These narratives play into the religious right and far right, inform the fantasy of exceptionalism through violence, and the perpetuation of these ideas backed by millions of dollars. This continues the cycle of violence in the real world, being dismissive of human life under the flag of benevolent colonialism and civilization, which requires the demonization of black and brown people. This isn’t civilization, this is brutalization. The most brutal structures imposed on planet earth, and Kevin can’t wait to sell you the movie tickets for it."

You can watch the video for "Mythical Cowboys" below. PO$T AMERICAN is due out April 11 on Hassle Records. For more on Dead Pioneers, check out the band's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.

4/20 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO

4/24 - Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Hollywood, FL *

4/26 - Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Hollywood, FL *

4/29 - State Farm Arena - Atlanta, GA *

5/1 - State Farm Arena - Atlanta, GA *

5/13 - Voodoo Daddy’s - Norwich, UK

5/14 - Downstairs @ The Dome - London, UK

5/16 - Poble Español - Barcelona, ES +

5/17 - Carroponte - Milan, IT +

5/18 - Koplex - Zurich, CH +

5/20 - Media Center - Ljubljana, SI +

5/21 - Arena - Vienna, AT +

5/23 - Gaswerk - Augsburg, DE +

5/24 - Berendrecht - Booswegske, BE +

5/25 - Schlachthof - Wiesbaden, DE +

5/27 - Live Music Hall - Cologne, DE +

5/28 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, NL +

5/29 - Docks - Hamburg, DE +

5/31 - Zitadelle Spandau - Berlin, DE +

* supporting Pearl Jam 

+Reconstruction Tour with Pennywise, Propagandhi, Comeback Kid