Poor Dumb Bastards
PDB was formed in March 1991 by long time hetero life partners and musical collaborators, Mike Porterfield and Byron Dean. The initial interest was to find a means to get into Emo’s for free, later they discovered Emo’s was always free. None the less the debaucherous shit-wagon known as Poor Dumb Bastards was set in motion. Drawing on their collective influences and experiences from some of their earlier work, bands like Cretinoid, Plutonium Flatheads and the Byron Weird Group, Mike and Byron set out create a genre all their own, hence “Texas Drunk Rock” was born. Add the non bass playing talents of Steve Scholtes and the competent, metronomic drumming of Chi Chi Macoola, and PDB were able to carve their initials on the bathroom door of the Texas music scene. Through the many years and many lineup changes, Poor Dumb Bastards have more than paid their dues. These Ill-minded sewer rockers have stayed true to their founding principals.
POWER, PERFORMANCE, PERVERSION
Houston Press August 12, 1999.
Everything was going swimmingly at the music awards function at Elvia's last week until the Poor Dumb Bastards took the stage. Lead singer Byron Dean got naked to accept his and his band's award for Song of the Year, and his father, about whom the award-winning song was written, mooned the crowd. Thankfully, Dean held his hand over his special part and Dad's was just-- MIA.
Now, I'm no prude, but I take explicit offense to the pushing of one's birthday-suited body on mine eyes. Where it makes sense (e.g., the theater, strip clubs, bedrooms, clearly identified beaches, etc.), it's okay. I can dig it. But when it happens in a place where people have to be able to digest food and beer, it's repulsive. And this has nothing to do with the fact that Dean's body is pale, portly, rumpled and almost completely hairless, and his dad's is 60-plus years old. (Gag!)
The name really says it all, but the Poor Dumb Bastards say a lot of things – loudly and repetitively. This local punk entourage has been spitting in the face of conformity for a lot of years now, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Lead singer Byron Dean has a strong affinity for being masked and naked onstage, and showed remarkable restraint this by kindly keeping the spandex clinging to his sweaty body in place. The music was run-of-the-mill punk - loud, fast and either makes you want to laugh or get really pissed off and start a fight. The Bastards' secret weapon though, was of course Dean’s unapologetic antics.
The rather large and enthusiastic audience was comprised of everything from heavy metal hipsters to, oddly enough, nubile young women who seemed enthralled with Dean’s presence – butt crack and all. Poor Dumb Bastards is exactly what it claims to be, nothing more and nothing less.
Houston Press July 29,2008
