The Presidents of the United States of America
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Kudos to You! (2/18, self-released, presidentsrock.com) The Sultans of Silly are back with their first new record in six years, and the trio hasn’t lost a step. Combining elements of grunge, alternative rock, punk, and power pop as seamlessly as ever, PUSA winds its way through 13 glib tracks that celebrate everything from the great state of Ohio to the harpooning of the rich and elite (“Good Morning Tycoon”). The sexy bass line, groovy guitar, and thumping drums on the opener “Slow Slow Fly” are reminiscent of those of “Seven Nation Army,” and they even throw some surf rock and psychobilly into the mix on “Finger Monster.” Bassist and lead singer Chris Ballew is charismatically off-kilter throughout, belting out a litany of tongue-in-cheek cliches in the quick-paced country-rock parody “Poor Little Me.” His delivery of the part-English, part-Spanish lyrics in “Rooftops in Spain”—including a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name”—is spot-on. The band’s humorous streak abounds with tales of pint-sized creatures waging epic wars (“Flea vs. Mite”) and an acoustic-rock love song to Crown Victorias that would make Chuck ’s John Casey smile. Two decades after it formed, PUSA has nothing left to prove, except that it still knows how to make you mosh and laugh simultaneously better than any band out there. And hey, if these dudes can do that by using a beer keg as a metaphor for both an unhealthy relationship and oral sex (“Stay With Me”), then kudos to them. (2/15, The Showbox; 2/16, The Triple Door) BRIAN PALMER
TacocaT,
NVM (2/25, Hardly Art Records, tacocatdotcom.com) Listening to Seattle-based pop-punk act TacocaT, it’s kind of hard not to have a great fucking time. Maybe it’s the band’s brash garage-rock sensibility. Or its hilariously honest lyrics about surfing the crimson wave. Or the make-you-smile-while-you-dance pop arrangements. It’s the combination of all these that make it equally confusing and completely understandable when TacocaT describes itself as both “feminist sci-fi” and “equal parts Kurt and Courtney.” The trend continues on the quartet’s new release, which strikes gold with a mixture of cupcake-meets-hot mess, resulting in a lo-fi, high-energy collection of songs that make you feel as if you can live in a world of multicolored glitter and gumdrops while continuing to be a badass. High points include “Crimson Wave” (for its laughable, and all too true, description of that monthly visit with Aunt Flo) and “Alien Girl,” for its killer guitar intro, doo-wop-meets-garage-pop delivery, and cheeky opening line “I don’t like your dad/Your dad don’t like me.” Elsewhere, the music is as sweet and sticky as the album cover suggests—a field of gumballs. Chew it up. (2/14, Chop Suey) KEEGAN PROSSER
Thumpers,
Galore (out now, Sub Pop, thumpers.co) In just an eight-word Twitter bio—“POP IN THE SOUL & EXPERIMENTAL IN FORM”—London-based duo Thumpers has nailed the description of its sound. Its debut, Galore, is bright and poppy, with big, sing-along-ready choruses and colorful keys, but it’s also more than a few steps off the beaten path with songs like “Tame,” which begins with what sounds like someone breathing heavily to the beat, features a chant-like chorus, and ends with a guitar riff manipulated to sound almost like a bagpipe. Thumpers was formed in 2011, but Marcus Pepperell (vocals, guitar, and piano) and John Hamson Jr. (vocals, bass, and drums) came from indie-rock trio Pull Tiger Tail, and have been playing together since their teens. The duo finds lyrical inspiration in those coming-of-age years—for example, the slower, reflective “Now We Are Sixteen,” which includes London-based indie-pop duo Summer Camp, call-and-response vocals, and lyrics like, “Everything seems better when we’re 16.” There’s a communal sense to Galore ’s layers of sound and the group vocals on several songs, including the aptly named closer “Together Now.” The duo also made the album, produced by David Kosten (Bat for Lashes, Everything Everything), a family affair, with siblings contributing to the recording process, including additional vocals from Pepperell’s sisters on the bouncy “Unkind (A Tougher Love).” Thumpers, which signed to Sub Pop in September and opened for Scottish electro-pop band Chvrches in the fall, has made a joyful first statement with Galore, an album bound to make the band’s U.S. debut a strong one. AZARIA C. PODPLESKY
The Yev
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I Wanna Hollywood (out now, self-released, yevtushenko.bandcamp.com) Formed in November 2012, this Seattle troupe has released three EPs and this 13-song debut LP. In the hands of less capable musicians, quantity might result in compromised quality; however, with Hollywood, The Yev has expanded its sound. On its debut EP, Do, the trio projects a punk/garage-rock ethos through a variety of experimental electronics, and the resultant noise was an integral part of the package. The new album experiments with melody and rhythm instead of noise—a shift most evident when comparing the versions of “One Cup of Coffee” on both Do and Hollywood. On the original, the band livens up a two-chord guitar riff with noisy waves of distortion and feedback, supported by rumbling drums; it relies too heavily on effects for effects’ sake, while the new arrangement gets rid of most of the distortion and the drummer lays down a more conventional rock beat. The feeling adds to the album’s overall tone, which is something like Sleater-Kinney meets David Bowie.
The opening track, “Well of Time,” features a straight-ahead rock riff in the guitar while the drums and vocals emphasize different beats, resulting in a danceable song that does its best to trip you up. Lyrically, the album is rather minimal, with many songs consisting of only a few repeated lines; “Bright,” for instance, begins with the words “I see bright inside/I feel bright inside/I am bright inside.” But the themes of vulnerability and self-esteem that pervade Hollywood add emotional weight. For a band that’s been together only a short time, The Yev continues to test musical boundaries in interesting ways. MICHAEL F. BERRY
