The Presidents Of The United States Of America

Kudos To You!

Written by: PP on 05/06/2014 05:18:15

If you require serious elements in your music to enjoy it, then you might as well skip this one. Having existed for 21 years, 'peach rock' specialists Presidents Of The United States Of America have album-after-album delivered joyous, tongue-in-cheek songs encompassed in a naive worldview that ignores harsh realities and instead focuses on things like ice cream ("The sticky icky ice cream he ate was super sweet" on "Slow Slow Fly"), peaches, finger monsters, ghosts, and other emblems of innocence and childhood. Sometimes, you just need to get away from reality and sing along to some catchy, groovy alternative rock tunes, and this is the niche PUSA have been catering for during their entire existence. 6th album "Kudos To You!" is unsurprisingly no different and is jam-packed with their signature 'peach rock' tunes that bring forth feelings of sunshine, palm trees, sand castles, and that sort of thing.

Basically, fans of playful ska music should enjoy their style, although PUSA distinctly steer away from the genre. Instead, they play a form of alternative rock that borrows the cheerful vibes of ska to blend them with the catchy, worry-free pop punk ideals of the 90s, resulting in something infectiously catchy with very little depth in it. That said, the complete absence of depth isn't a problem because their songwriting is sublime throughout. A highlight reel track like "Rooftops In Spain" is simply irresistible despite its one-line repeat chorus thanks to its upbeat energy and youthful exuberance. At the same time, the band showcase their darker side on a track like "Crappy Ghost", which isn't as sunshine-filled as the rest of the tracks. For the most part, it's all about playful guitars and fun song structures, as "Poor Little Me" demonstrates. Then you have a track like "Stay With Me", which recalls 70s style garage rock (think The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" and you're on the right track), which gives the record variety. "Crown Victoria" toys with a slightly slower tempo, but even here the guitar slides and funky experimentalism (think Incubus ballads) wins you over. Similarly, the rock'n'roll vibes of "Electric Spider" are cool, even if the song itself isn't among the best on the record.

In general, it's rare to come across records which share as joyous and worry-free mood as those written by PUSA. Their trademark expression has been to write alternative rock tunes that a), get you dancing, b) make you feel like you're lying underneath palm trees on some tropical island, and most importantly c), are incredibly catchy with plenty of polished pop. To an extent, "Kudos To You!" fulfils all three objectives, although the second half of the record sees a slight dip in consistency, making the highest grades just out of reach for PUSA. But for a short fix of sunshine-filled peach rock, no-one does it better than PUSA.

7

Download: Rooftops In Spain, Slow Slow Fly, Good Morning Tycoon
For the fans of: Sublime, Cake, Weird Al Yankovic, The Vandals
Listen: Facebook

Release date 14.02.2014
PUSA Inc / Burnside Records

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