Since their formation in 1991, Pinhead Gunpowder have accumulated almost a dozen releases across almost as many labels, in the form of scattered EPs, LPs, comps and singles. But now, for the first time ever, the East Bay punk band is re-releasing their entire remastered catalog via 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. Every three months, starting back in April, a new batch of reissues will drop, including a remastered LP, a seven-inch, and a bunch of associated merchandise. 2021 is officially the year of the Pinhead.
“We’re basically just reissuing vinyl of all the releases the band has and putting them on 1-2-3-4 Go!” guitarist and vocalist Jason White explains. “When they were first printed or released, they were all spread across different labels. Most of them— if not all— have gone out of print, or the labels have gone under. Or they’re just not widely available anymore. And so, for a while we have been wanting to do something where we re-release it and it all has a home again.”
A quick recap for the uninitiated: Following the demise of Crimpshrine, drummer Aaron Cometbus started Pinhead Gunpowder in 1991, while still living in Arcata, California. Upon moving back to Berkeley, he enlisted the help of bassist Bill Schneider, and guitarist and vocalist Sarah Kirsch of the Skinflutes. After recruiting a starry-eyed Billie Joe Armstrong on second guitar and vocal duties, Pinhead Gunpowder played their first show opening for Rancid in Oakland. Kirsch would leave the band in 1993 and was replaced by White, who also later would become Green Day’s touring guitarist before officially joining them in 2012.
The nebulous and fluid nature of band members at this time is reflective of just about any music scene. But during the ’80s and early ’90s, East Bay bands in particular were notorious for being incestuous when it came to the musicians involved. The band recorded and toured with Billie Joe Armstrong long after Green Day’s breakthrough into mainstream success. For many fans, Green Day was a gateway into discovering not only Pinhead Gunpowder, but also the greater East Bay punk scene.
“In the punk scene, you did a band and then maybe that burned out, and then you had some other friends you wanted to play with and try things with,” White says. “And so that’s what you did— or you did simultaneously. I mean, Billy wasn’t in a whole lot of other bands besides Green Day, I think, until Pinhead Gunpowder. But that was sort of a thing that you did, when you had time to do it.”
Similar to how the primordial pools from which we all evolved were ripe with the perfect elements for life’s creation, healthy music scenes foster the creation of bands. And just like organisms within an ecosystem, they soon evolve, mutate, swap DNA, consume each other, or just die. But sometimes, this evolution leads to healthy symbiosis.
For instance, Cometbus’s former band Crimpshine included Jeff Ott, who also played in Fifteen, along with both Jesse Michaels and Tim Armstrong, who would later go to form Operation Ivy, would later go to form Rancid, and so on.
“I think it was in the spirit of the punk scene, you just spread yourself out,” White says. “There was a time when I was in three bands at the same time. And Sarah Kirsch, who was formerly in the band, always had lots of different bands and always collaborated with lots of people. So, I think that was a common thing for the scene we came from.”
Green Day fans will quickly recognize Billie Joe’s signature vocals, but everyone in the band has writing credits in Pinhead’s catalog. Their first compilation, Jump Salty, which was rereleased back in April, features vocals from Billie Joe and Sarah Kirsch, who unfortunately passed away in 2012. Their later releases feature lead vocal performances from White and bassist Bill Schnieder, in addition to Armstrong. Despite lineup changes and an ever-changing musical landscape over the years, Pinhead Gundpowder’s sound always remained deeply rooted in classic East Bay punk— a sound that’s difficult to define. But like other musical movements— like CBGB’s in New York, or Seattle, Gainesville, or Nashville— you know it when you hear it.
“The first thing that came to mind is that you can kind of look to the drummers and there’s something there,” White says, helping to narrow in on the sound.
“Whether it’s Aaron Cometbus, whether it’s Dave Mello, or Tre Cool,” he continues. “And the bass players were pretty incredible— Pete Rypins and Matt Freeman. And I think within that sort of rhythm and frenetic tension, with the drummer and the band, and even the bass players as well, kind of moving a lot. There’s kind of this frenetic drumming style to me, that to find when I hear it, I’m like— that’s an East Bay band. You know? And I’ve heard countless other drummers do it, even in other places, that try to maybe mimic their style. But to me it’s a very East Bay-rooted thing. Why is that? I don’t know. To me that style starts there.”
Phase 1 (4/30/21): Jump Salty LP, Trundle and Spring 7” plus two shirts with art from each release
Phase 2 (6/11/21): Carry The Banner LP, Fahizah 7” plus two shirts with art from each release and the stand alone “Kick Over The Traces” shirt.
Phase 3 (9/10/21): Goodbye Ellston Avenue LP, At Your Funeral 7” (songs from two splits, split up no more!), plus two shirts with art from each release.
Phase 4 (11/26/21): Shoot The Moon LP, 8 Chords 328 Words 7” plus two shirts with art from each release.
Phase 5 (3/11/22): Compulsive Disclosure LP, West Side Highway 7” plus two shirts with art from each release.
Check out Pinhead Gunpowder’s iconic album Goodbye Ellston Avenue here:
For more from Pinhead Gunpowder, check out their official website.
Photo courtesy of Pinhead Gunpowder and Murray Bowles.
