My recent post about Moral Majority Dance Band sent me down some interesting old school punk rabbit holes. One of them led me to “The White EP” by Pop-O-Pies, which I was honestly surprised to realize I never mentioned here before. So today that gets rectified.
Pop-O-Pies were a band with only one (as far as I can tell) consistent member in the person of the legendary Joe Callahan (a/k/a Joe Pop O Pie), assisted by various West Coast luminaries who also participated in many other bands you know.
For at least a moment in 1982, Joe had his finger firmly on the pulse of the zeitgeist. As evidence, I present “The White EP.” Six tracks that bury the 60’s (through greatly improving a Grateful Dead song and updating us on Timothy Leary), attempt rap (with another version of “Truckin’”) and call out religious hegemony (“The Catholics Are Attacking”), law enforcement (“Fascists Eat Donuts”) and someone named Anna (“Anna Ripped Me Off”).
Come for the fun but make sure to stick around for the last track which I would argue is the greatest one-chord wonder of a song ever. Literally one chord, but it sizzles:
And as a little bonus to you (from my rabbit hole excursions) I found a hot cover version by The Melvins (with Teri Gender Bender on lead vocals). And as a bonus on that bonus, they include a smokin’ cover of Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” in their mini medley:
Long live the Pop-O-Pies! You can find the dated but still fun band website at this link. You can buy some of their music on Bandcamp. And you can make those doughnuts with extra grease.