(Photograph courtesy of Last.fm user "mecc")
Cowboys Are Indians was active from 2006 until 2011, playing a riff-heavy form of punk/hardcore, with the vocals alternating between desperate screams and gruff, hoarse shouts. They were originally a four-piece but, after losing their bassist, continued as a three-piece with no bass. Both guitars are almost always distorted and incredibly thick, very reminiscent of similar hardcore bands from New Hampshire, though they have more of a wild, rockin' edge that places them closer to the likes of Transistor Transistor than Bravo Fucking Bravo (both of whom I plan to cover in future posts).
This band was especially awesome because they never charged for their digital files, always offering them for free download, hosting them on websites such as Mediafire and Zippyshare themselves. Even their physical merchandise was always being sold at very inexpensive prices; excellent ethic and fantastic talent to back it up.
While their S/T CD and Constantly Fucked LP are largely the same stylistically, with S/T's tracks such as "This Town Is Dead And Boring" and "Sam'song" providing excellent examples for how the band's sound would continue to develop, other tracks on the CD show some different sides of the band that aren't reflected on the LP. For example, the song "Thumbs Down" has spoken vocals that remind me of "Institutionalized" by the Suicidal Tendencies or even of a more aggressive Sinaloa.
Meanwhile, "Seven-Ate" has a far softer intro, opening with misleadingly peaceful and melodic guitar chords, providing an almost ballad-esque feel before the song explodes into typical Cowboys Are Indians territory. The split with Giant Fucking Mirror is a single track, a sixteen-minute-long noisy and loud live recording of the band playing through a few songs from their S/T and the Cassettes on Fire split, namely, "Champagne Taste On A Beer Budget," "Hey Man,""Sunday Sauce," "Seven-Ate," and "Robots." It's unfortunate that there aren't any songs played that are exclusive to the split, but it's nice to have a recorded version of the band as live performers.
Here's a video of "Seven-Ate" from the S/T CD:
Although I think I may personally prefer the S/T, Constantly Fucked was certainly a high note for the band to end on. A day or two after Constantly Fucked was first posted, I remember downloading the album and putting it on a CD so I could listen during the car ride to a show that weekend. I have a distinct memory of listening to the album as my friend and I drove to the show, enamored by what I was sure would become an important album for the band. Unfortunately, the band slowed down and, ultimately, stopped. With Constantly Fucked as their final release (thus far), the members have since moved on to other endeavors, although I don't think there was ever an official "break-up" or "end" to the band announced. Considering that these members were all very close friends, I don't think they would or will ever officially end.
Nowadays, one of the members continues to run CUT & PASTE, a fantastic blog that focuses on punk, hardcore, crust, power violence (basically, all forms of aggressive and cathartic music) that he keeps updated fairly regularly. Another member runs Bookhouse Records, whom I have endless amounts of respect for. Homie has been doing what I'm trying to do here for the past few years, operating a label out of his bedroom, playing in punk bands and self-releasing splits with friends. Some of the members of CAI now play in a surf-punk band called Baluga and a garage punk band called Squid. A split cassette was released between the two bands on Bookhouse.
Here is a video of them playing a house venue in Manchester, NH called The Hive (a venue that unfortunately no longer exists):
DISCOGRAPHY:
S/T CD | Download
Split w/ Giant Fucking Mirror | Download
Split w/ Cassettes On Fire | Download
Constantly Fucked LP | Download | Stream | Purchase Cassette (Bookhouse) | Purchase 12" (Bookhouse) | Purchase 12" (BEAR Records)
OTHER LINK(S):
Constantly Fucked | Cowboys Are Indians Blog (Inactive)
CUT & PASTE | Music Blog (Active)
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