I don’t remember how I actually came across The Late Pioneers. I downloaded the We All Knew Biscuits E.P (2018) from Bandcamp a while ago. But somehow the songs slipped through my daily business and got lost in my ever-expanding music library. Until I received a notice the other day that there’s a new release from The Late Pioneers. And this time, the band immediately got my full attention.
It’s easy to connect with this new collection of songs released under the title Close Enough: there are plenty of splendid melodies and the way they harmonise sound very familiar. All topped up with chiming guitars and a neat lo-fi approach. Also, there are different singers and songwriters in the band, each bringing in a distinctive style and approach into the band. We all know about the benefits of having three singer/songwriters in a guitar band, right?
The Late Pioneers are four long-time friends, originally from the Manchester area. Because they ended up living in various parts of England, they only get together once or twice a year to record some music at someone’s home. It’s clearly a labour of love. You can hear they are having fun getting together, swapping instruments all the time while recording all sorts of songs. Thankfully, they share this music straight away on Bandcamp (occasionally accompanied by a quick video for YouTube) for everyone to enjoy this creative outcome. Of course The Late Pioneers are no leading innovators in the field of hand-made indie guitar music. They are clearly influenced from a broad range of musical directions. Not in a contrived or copied manner, but with fresh authenticity.
From the past five years, there are numerous releases to check out on Bandcamp. And further more to dig into: several side-projects like Autopia, Combo Ribs and The Separates. I’d recommend to start with The Pinetop Sauna because they also have a knack for three-part harmonies and classic guitars. It’s less lo-fi and sounds more American influenced to me. Yes, there’s loads to discover. Hope you enjoy!
11th November 2019
UPDATE
Less than three months later, and The Late Pioneers are now having a CD compilation out via the wonderful people from Subjangle. The album consists of the Close Enough EP from 2019 (tracks 1-7), the Bin Wang album from 2016 (tracks 8-16) and four tracks (17-20) specifically chosen by Julie Fowler (editor of the Colours Through The Air Blog and also one of the co-founders of Subjangle). It’s well deserved, that this great music finally gets a proper physical release!
31st January 2020