“The modern dichotomy of love is built upon the crux of ‘power over’ versus ‘power struggle.'”

New York City goth-punk juggernauts PAWNS not only put out one of the better LPs of the past few years—their transcendent Gallows debut LP from 2017 is one of my personal favorite LPs of the 2010s—they’ve also been one of the most consistently powerful live acts I’ve had the pleasure to witness in recent memory. Today they’re breaking the news that a new EP is being released, a 3-song assault of their unique brand of gritty, doomy, anarcho-tinged, fatalistic, dark postpunk: Monuments of Faith. The 3-song EP will be physically released on April 17 in the US by Near Dark (the label home of Ötzi and others) as a single-sided 12″ vinyl EP, and in the UK by the Inflammable Material label as a 7-inch record.

Monuments of Faith EP by Pawns

Monuments of Faith presses ahead with PAWNS’ trademark sound that combines singer Gage Allison’s baritone vocals, Jenna Rose (of the excellent Anatomy project—another fantastic live experience, by the way) and her expertly sinuous bass lines, and the combined attack of Noel Mateus and Stephen Reader on guitar and drums, respectively. The band’s playing style has been favorably likened to the staccato, stop-start attack of old Crass Records bands like Zounds, and in my own previous writeups on PAWNS I’ve compared their overall sonic effect to those acts on the gloomier side of the mid-1980s anarcho scene in England that helped kickstart the early DIY goth-punk aesthetic—acts like The Mob, Lack of Knowledge, Famous Imposters, and Blood and Roses. Apparent as well on the new EP is the kind of dark, deathrock-tinged punk that TSOL explored on their 1984 Change Today? LP, and which California’s Drunk Injuns explored on some of their Thrasher Skate Rock! appearances (check out Drunk Injuns’ cover of Joy Division‘s “Walked in Line” to see what I’m referring to). Later this year, PAWNS will be playing with Pink Turns Blue, She Past Away, Clan of Xymox, and others.

Here is PAWNS’ new track. Enjoy:

In short, with Monuments of Faith PAWNS mine a very interesting area where the sounds of dark postpunk, anarcho-punk, and deathrock converge, and out of this comes a vital new release that is simultaneously gothic and political, arty yet down-to-earth, deliciously atmospheric with guitar-driven doom while sacrificing none of the visceral immediacy encountered in the best old British punk singles (think Adverts, think Flux of Pink Indians, think The Mob).

Before we get to the interview below, though, I’d be remiss in my work here if I didn’t mention how strikingly noteworthy singer Gage’s artwork is for the band, and for the other projects that he also does visual work for (show fliers, zines, etc.). Gage’s design style is somewhat reminiscent of Gee Vaucher‘s stuff for, again, Crass, or even John Heartfield’s old antifascist photomontages from the 1930s and 1940s. See, for example, the show flyer Gage designed for PAWNS’ upcoming show with British postpunk veterans 1919, below. As well, the PAWNS’ vocalist handles all the lyrics for the band, and although lyrics don’t get as much attention in today’s music press as they should, Gage’s lyric writing showcases the existential tension between the personal and political: “We can’t be bound to one single expression of love if we hope to find happiness,” Gage writes in the notes to Monuments of Faith. In “Shadows of Hiroshima,” the second song on this EP, he appends: “The system only lets you forget / In this narrow scope of life / Where do we belong? / Shadows of Hiroshima…”

PAWNS were interviewed by Oliver for Post-punk.com in February, 2019.



First things first: Who is in PAWNS these days? Who is on the new EP?

Noel: Gage Allison (vocals), Jenna Rose (bass), and I (Noel Mateus, guitar) have been in the band since the beginning. Stephen Reader has been drumming with us for almost two years now and he’s the best drummer we could ever ask for. We’re all featured on the new record.

Stephen: I got connected through some mutual friends and was lucky enough to join a band that had songs written and tours booked so it really made my job as a drummer easy for the most part. What has been challenging, but very cool, has been trying to adapt my style and inclinations to the band’s sound, which I think requires being heavy on toms and using the whole kit without overcomplicating things or distracting from the vocals and strings. It’s like I grew up listening to so much post punk and stuff but never even got close to playing in a band that sounded anywhere near that, so finally doing it as an adult is a thrill.

Jenna: Stephen is the best thing to happen to Pawns since we threw our old van in the trash. In all seriousness, he is a brilliant percussionist and a clock. He makes playing bass so much easier. I never have to chase him.

Who is putting out the new EP? When was it recorded, who produced it, where was it recorded, and what is the personnel on the EP? What will it be called?

Jenna:Monuments of Faith was recorded at some point last year at Strange Weather in Brooklyn. I think it was spring? There is no way of knowing. Ben Greenberg recorded and produced it per usual.

Gage: Inflammable Material in the UK is releasing the EP as a 7″ and Near Dark Records (US) is putting it out as a one sided 12″ EP. Serious shout out to Ben, Gina and Michael. Couldn’t have done this without any of them.