The Pressure Boys - Where The Cowboys Went

What this video is

The Pressure Boys formed in 1981 at Chapel Hill High School and quickly rose to the top of the local alternative music scene, driven by a 2-Tone-influenced ska-rock sound shaped by producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon — the same team behind R.E.M.'s early landmark recordings. 'Where The Cowboys Went' appears on the 1984 Rangledoon EP and is widely cited as the band's signature track. Their comedic sensibility,…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of mid-1980s American 2-Tone ska revival as practiced in the Southern college underground. The video documents a regional scene — the Chapel Hill/Triangle NC axis — that served as an incubator for nationally significant acts including R.E.M., Squirrel Nut Zippers, Ben Folds…