Album Review: Love Everybody - The Presidents of the United States of America

Yeah, it's nearly a decade old. I don't care, I just found it after two or three years of looking for it. And it's still great!


It's their first album with their new backup guitbassist (or bassitarist, they use weird instruments), and it shows. Both this and their sixth album have a very distinct sound, different from both the early sound of their first three and the very much experimental sound of the somewhat lackluster Freaked Out And Small.

In particular, I point to a few examples of the super-upbeat sound that they've embraced in their current incarnation: "Love Everybody", "Some Postman", "Highway Forever", and what is arguably my favorite: "Shreds of Boa".

All four are quick, irreverant, and will have most people singing along even before they know the words. You can practically hear the crowd singing the callback in Highway Forever, and Some Postman will be in your head for years after you first hear it. Shreds of Boa tells the story of the best and worst party ever, and Love Everybody is practically a manifesto for the Presidents' musical style.

I'm sure you can find this album used for under ten dollars, somewhere. Go buy it.

Album Review: Shimokita is Dead? - Tennis Pro

Normally, when someone gets an advance copy of an album with the intent to review it, they write and post that review before the album comes out. That's not what we do here, though! Despite getting the new Tennis Pro album Shimokita is Dead? a few weeks ago, I'm just now posting this review - days after the album dropped.


This album, based heavily on the time the band recently spent in Japan, is 15 tracks long and much more musically diverse than their previous offerings. Not all the tracks are considered by the band to be full songs, but they're all worth a listen. Here are a few of the album's highlights:


Track 1: "Dance Hit Number One" - A good, very eighties-influenced song residing far outside the band's power pop wheelhouse. Though its style isn't repeated on the album, its strangeness serves as a good introduction to the rest of the tracks' divergent styles.


Track 2: "Satomi Bicycle" - Immediately, the album shifts back to power pop. The narrative style that characterizes some of their best songs is evident here. One of the album's top three new songs.


Track 6: "Rock Over Tokyo" - See the review of Happy Is The New Sad, but like some of the other repeated tracks, this one is a new and slightly different version.


Track 10: "Clothing Optional Christian Barbecue" - Based on a melody written for a beer commercial and the creepy vibe of a middle-aged nudist, there is no way this song wasn't going to be fantastic. Its origin gives it a slightly different vibe, instrumentation-wise, from a lot of the other stuff on the album, but paired with the vocals it's the perfect weirdo party song.


Many of the other tracks would merit a description as well, but let me simply summarize by saying that the album's experiment with guitar-driven post-grunge make for an interesting - if not always completely effective - contrast. I fully recommend the album, but if the price tag seems a little much I would at least recommend downloading these four songs.