The Presidents Of The United States Of America are one of few bands that really got me into music. When I was little I really wasn't into music. Mostly because when I was little most of the popular bands were like "Backstreet Boys", "Nsync" or "The Spice Girls". But then an uncle of mine showed this album and I instantly loved it. If it were not for The POTUSOA I may not even be into music today. So, I decided to do this review today as a sort of thank you to them. Also I haven't done a review in like 3 weeks so I'm due for one.
This album has great alternative rock sound to it. I rather enjoyed that most if not all of the songs had just nice "goofy" vocals not really saying anything.
Example: There's a kitty at my foot and I want to touch it
The instrumentals for this album weren't overly spectacular compared to music I usually listen to (Metallica, Zeppelin, etc.) but they were still quite good and most songs were very catchy.
Kitty (3.5/5)- This song has a nice basic intro, nothing fancy. Then it gets into the verse. Which has a good rhythmic bass line. The chorus like the rest of the song is also pretty basic. I guess there?s nothing too great about this song but I love it all the same. I especially enjoyed the last verse.
*** you kitty, you?re gonna spend the night. *** you kitty you?re gonna spend the night *** you kitty, you?re gonna spend the night.. OUTSIDE!?
That just made me laugh. The only thing I didn?t like about this song was the meows in the background of the verses. It was kind of annoying and it made if harder to here the lead vocals. Otherwise good track.
Feather Pluckn (3/5)- I loved the intro to this song. It had a nice sort of southern sound to it. Almost reminiscent of ?Lynyrd Skynyrd? but not really. This song has a somewhat mellow verse, good to listen to when you?re going for a drive. The chorus has a nice rock n? roll feel to it. Good to head bang to. Overall I wasn?t overly pleased with this song. It wasn?t bad. But it wasn?t too great. If it weren?t for this intro it would probably have gotten a 2.5
Lump (5/5)- This song is what put these guys on the map. It?s my personal favourite song on the album, tied with a couple others. This song gets right down to business. It doesn?t have an intro or any pre-verse riffs, it just gets right into the verse. In this song like most others the vocals made pretty much no sense
Example: She totally confused all the passing piranhas.
Nothing wrong with that though. This song is well done instrumentally as well. The guitar in it is more complex and it has some bends and little solo-esque riffs under the verses and the chorus. While most of their other songs don?t. In my opinion this was a classic song.
Stranger (4/5)- This track has an enjoyable intro. The guitar and the bass go together quite well. This song had excellent verse and a pretty well written chorus as well. But they didn?t go together well at all. This song has some kind of humorous vocals, I won?t write them out because they?re aren?t that funny but they are pretty good. This song had a superb interlude. It had sort of a 70?s rock feel to it. Overall this was a very enjoyable track.
Boll Weevil (4.5/5)- This song has an unbelievable bass intro. It is soon accompanied by guitar and then it goes into the verse. This song is very catchy. The verse has a good flow to it. It almost reminded me of the verse from ?Neighbourhood 3: Power out?. This song is pretty much just about a fat guy who doesn?t get out much. The chorus in this track is good to rock out too. Overall this track is an excellent addition to this album.
Peaches (5/5)- This song is just silly and I love it. It?s particularly silly because the main line of the song is ?moving to the county gonna eat me alotta peaches?. I find this to be silly because there?s not really any peaches in the country at least not where I?m from. The instrumentals were very good. Catchy intro riff. Nice melodic verse. Powerful chorus. What more can you ask for? Well to answer my own question you could ask for a solo, but even with out one this song is a classic none the less.
Dune Buggy (5/5)- This song grabs your attention right away with that strange bend in the intro. It almost sounds like he?s tuning his guitar or perhaps the guitar is out of tune. I rather enjoyed the verse, although I can?t for the life of me describe it. I?m trying to think of where I?ve heard that similar sound before. From what time period or what genre. But mind has drawn a blank. The chorus is nothing special similar to a lot of their other songs. When I break this song down I guess it probably shouldn?t have a 5/5, but for some reason as a hole I think it deserves it.
We Are Not Going To Make It (3/5)- This track starts off, then about 5 seconds in the singer says wait lets start again. I?m not sure if it was a mistake or if they that on purpose to be funny. Knowing these guys they did it to be funny. This song is mostly about how they?re not actually a great band so they could have possibly done that as an example of how they?re not that great of a band, as well. Anyways I?m not going to get into the instrumentals for this song. They?re not great. This song was just put on there as a joke. Kind of like something you would see on a NOFX album. I mentioned moments earlier that this song was about how they aren?t a very good band. Here?s an example of that.
?We?re not gonna make it. No. No. We?re not gonna make it. ?Cause there?s a million better bands, with a million better songs.?
Kick Out The Jams (4/5)- This song could?ve had a 4.5, but it was too short. It had a nice steady fast beat throughout. For once the lyrics weren?t about nothing. Not that there?s anything wrong with that but it does get old after a while. The bass in this song was actually exceptionally good. Overall it was an excellent track.
Body (3.5/5)- This an okay track. It had an interesting intro. It had that effect that makes it sound sort of like you?re playing under water. It had a chorus unparalleled by any other chorus on the album, in my opinion. The instrumentals in this song were very well and went along well with the vocals. The thing that mostly took away from this track is at the end it just gets really heavy out of no where. That part just seems really out of place.
Back Porch (4/5)- This track is quite different from any other track in the album. It has intro that is like something you heard in an old western movie while a cowboy was chasing a robber (while they were both on horses). The whole song has a quick country like pace. The vocals poke gentle fun at old people who live in the country. That?s pretty much all there is to say about this song.
Candy (5.5/5)- I gave this track an extra point because I ***ing love candy. I especially enjoyed this song because it unlike any other song on this album?..had?..a?..solo. It?s about god damn time. It wasn?t much of a solo it was short slow and there was use of a talk pedal. But it was a solo none the less. There?s nothing wrong with not having solo?s but I?m a very guitar oriented person and it kind of annoys me when I want to learn a song and it?s really easy just power chords, or regular chords and no solo. The rest of the song was pretty darn good as well.
Naked and Famous (5/5)- I knew before I even listened to this song that I would like it. Why? Because of the title ?Naked and Famous?. It just sounds like a good song. Most of the song was average. Until it got to the solo. Yes, another solo and this one was actually good. It continued even when the vocals came back in and just soloed under then until the song was finished. This was an excellent track.
Overall rating: 4/5
Pros-interesting sound
-some songs made me laugh
-the instrumentals were good (mostly)
-vocals were also pretty good
Cons-some songs sounded the same
-the whole ?look at me my songs don?t make sense? bit got old after a while
And there you have it. That?s my review. I hope anyone out there who hasn't heard anything from these guys will check it out. It's a really fun album. Well worth a listen. Although, I wouldn't recommend listening to the whole album all at once. It all runs together after a while.
I spent like 2 and a half hours on this review some feed back would be nice
This Message Edited On 06.07.06
