One of the few Seattle bands to reject dark, angst-ridden lyrics, The Presidents of the United States of America's self-titled debut has been noticed in a big way. Mainly due to hit songs "Lump" and "Kitty", the album has gone platinum. Though the group recently lost the Best Alternative Musical Performance Grammy to Nirvana, the fact that they were
nominated is an indication of their success.
Chris Ballew (Bassitarist or Bassist), Dave Dederer (Guitbassist or Guitarist) and Jason Finn (Drummer), are the band members. Though all three are quickly approaching 30, they insist they still know how to have fun and base their performances on spontaneity and little rehearsal. The lyrics are nonsensical and inane; not a song plays on without mention of some sort of animal (kitty, salamander), fruit or invention. It's hard to get any sort of message from the songs because they just don't seem to contain any logic. For example, "Peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man..."
The sound is surprisingly large for a small band, and can really get you moving if it's loud. The CD is reminiscient of the repetitive sounds of Weezer, where each song sounds more and more like the one before it. The Presidents may try too hard to sound like teenage amateurs, but they do deliver entertainment.
The Presidents are currently recording their next album, to be released in 1997.
Visit The President's Homepage.
Visit the real President's White House page.
