Record Review: Neon Creeps by O Pioneers!!!

Band: O Pioneers!!!
Album: Neon Creeps
Released: February 10, 2009 on Asian Man Records
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Punk Revival
Tracks: 10

After seeing O Pioneers!!! perform with Andrew Jackson Jihad and a handful of other bands a few weeks ago, I picked up Neon Creeps (I later found out that I could download it for free from Quote Unquote Records, but I’m happy to support the band).
Neon Creeps sounds like a record Bear vs. Shark would have made two albums before their debut, prior to discovering the ability to play soft or whisper. It captures all the riotous energy of the big, crashing parts of Bear vs. Shark, and the singer even sounds quite a bit like Marc Paffi, but the band rarely changes tempo and the volume is pretty damn consistent throughout. That isn’t such a bad thing: they do what they do well, and they stick to it, but some diversity would be nice.

The album gets off to a great start with “Saved By The Bell Was A Super Good Show” (These guys have been hanging out with Bomb the Music Industry! way too much) – I dare you to not be singing “Drama, drama, drama!” after hearing the song.
Saved By The Bell Was A Super Good Show

The second track, “The Architect Of Disney World” is another quick, loud number, which is followed by “Dead City Sound” which slows the album down a tiny bit.

The next three songs are, respectively, about: How it sucks to be poor/depressed, how it sucks to sit around and do nothing, and how “everything will be alright”. O Pioneers!!! has DEFINITELY been hanging out with Bomb the Music Industry! too much. The first two are average at best, forgettable at worst, but the third – “Stressing The Fuck Out” is really pretty fun, but is of course immediately followed by two more average/forgettable songs.

Track nine, “I So Told You So,” is easily the best song on the album – it’s a really great combo, being catchy, immediately different from the rest of the album, and with lyrics that everyone can relate to – “I wish that I didn’t have to say/I told you so/But I totally do/And it feels so damned good!” Sweet, sweet victory.

Oh, the last song is pretty good too, about cool kids and whatnot – to be honest though, you’ll probably be skipping it to get back to track one. I can’t comprehend why “I So Told You So” wasn’t the closer, but hey, it’s not my album.

Best tracks: “Saved By The Bell Was A Super Good Show”, “Stressing The Fuck Out”, “I So Told You So”