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Love Everybody
1.) Love Everybody
This is a great song to open the album with, as the opening bass riff is a high-energy suction into the president’s new world. This could easily be PUSA’s new "kick out the jams" (especially since the riff is basically an inversion of their KOTJ riff). The guitbass crashes heavy into the song soon after, and its time to bang your head. The lyrics are really good too, contrasting rich and poor lifestyles with witty rhyming schemes and a fun staccato rhythm. This is a lot of fun to sing along with. The chorus of "you gotta love everybody" may seem a little too upbeat and positive at first, like a poppy song preaching to little kids, but its so catchy that you don’t mind after a few listens. Just hearing the energy in Chris’ voice makes this a fan favorite of the album, I especially love the part of the song where he starts whispering the lyrics and then crescendos into the end of the verse, and then the bass makes a great high pitched sound an octave higher than every verse it was played previous. Awesome.
2.) Some Postman
Ever since this song debuted at Bumbershoot, it had single written all over it. Amazing storytelling lyrics, such an original concept of a postman grooving to lost love letters (attributed to the real life occurrence of losing a mixtape sent to a friend in the mail), and appealing chord progressions that move the song right along. I’m sure there will be some debate of which version is better, (giraffes vs. presidents) but the bottom line is that as a presidents tune it will have much wider reach to music fans across the world and that is a good thing. I do however miss the harmonizing bridge of the older version, and I wonder where the heck "1993" came from at the end of the song (perhaps when Ballew wrote the tune originally?) The best thing about this song, however, is that I think it’s the most memorable lyrically, and means a lot of people who see the presidents play this song once will remember it when they hear it again. One more thing to note, the song opens with some bird sound effects, kind of a new thing for presidents songs but becoming more common for Chris Ballew songs (especially if you listen to his solo albums) Kind of an interesting development.
3.) Clean Machine
This song was another giraffes/chris and tad song that turned into a presidents song. However this time, I can say with much more assertion the presidents version is my favorite version of the song. The presidents have definitely made this song into rock and roll pop and it has never sounded better. Some update lyrics help give this a fresh feel as well, but it’s mostly the driving beat that moves this song along. Also, I wanted to say how I have heard people compare Chris Ballew’s voice to Kermit the Frog, and I have always agreed to some extent, but to me this is the first song where I hear it dead on! Hehe, when Ballew says, "a diamond in the mud" during the quiet voice part near the end of the song, I swear its Kermit. This song also has a fun bridge. But my favorite part of the song is the outro, when he suddenly turns his, "YOU’RE A CLEAN MACHINE, YOU’RE A CLEAN MACHINE" up a notch and you just ride the extra emotion to the end. It just makes my eyes roll to the back of my head and swim in pure musical bliss. Also hearing the, "yeaaa-aaah, yeaa-aaah," part is beautiful to my ears.
4.) Highway Forever
This was one of the first new songs introduced at SXSW 2003, and it gave fans a great reason to be excited for the new album. A true rock song, this simple riff is a powerful hook that shows off the presidents harder edge sound. The live performances of this song can be as long as 6 or 7 minutes when the band really gets into their groove and squeezes out every drop of goodness the song has to offer, often elongating the solos and crowd interaction portion of the song. The album version, however, compacts it all into a 3 minute jam, which is a little disappointing since the live versions can really wail. Nevertheless, the song still rocks, as it paints a picture of never ending road trip that is driving everybody mad. We even get a wicked harmonica solo that really shines over the main riff. I was kind of hoping for the "invisible harmonica" of Chris Ballew’s sound effects voice, kind of the way he does it in the "tiny invisible guitar" solo from Candy. The drumming in this song is really strong as well, and deserves mention how great Jason Finn is. This song is a definite stand out of the album, reminiscent of a "back porch" or a "froggie."
5.) Zero Friction
Yet another unreleased giraffes remake that receives the presidents conversion, and once I again it is the best version of the song yet. Another song with a kind of happy-go-lucky, no-worries feel to it. I love how some of the chords are kind of punchy and some of them are kind of sprangy. I love the way the bass enters the song after the first few bars. I love the lyrics; it is always nice to hear presidents’ songs with animals in them (massive gorilla), as well as other crazy images (silent punk rocker). Another strong outro, and more good drumming, a perfect fit on the record.
6.) Surf’s Down
How very cool to have a modern surf instrumental, one of my favorite genres. I actually was expecting the surf instrumental the presidents sometimes used while in Subset (but as an instrumental, no mix-a-lot meant basically a presidents song) but this is a new song. The seagull cries to open the song are a nice touch to give the feel of the beach, and probably my favorite use of sound effects on this record. The bass and guitar riffs are pretty basic, but that’s OK because it captures a surf vibe. I think the song really begins to shine when the electric keyboard comes in. At first it didn’t really seem to fit in with the other sounds, but after a few listens it became very natural and free flowing. It really adds a new layer to the song and doesn’t make the song so drab (the guitar does make it sound kind of like a sad surf song). When the song gets to what I guess you would call the bridge, they keyboard gets a new sound effect that I absolutely love, as I have heard it used on solo Ballew albums (my first computer, like to boogie) its got this extra fuzzy tinge sound to it. All and all, Surf’s Down is a fun song.
7.) Shortwave
Aside from the electric keyboard at the bridge, this song really feels like a long lost pusa song from 10 years ago to me. That’s not to say I don’t like the keyboard, perhaps a bit jarring to hear so much of a keyboard in a presidents song at first it soon became a natural and highly enjoyable part of the song. Short whimsical lyrics that follow a weekly routine day by day, and have some instant classic Ballew phrases (bust the wonder bread).
8.) Poke And Destroy
Super catchy song!!! All about boys’ primal urge to poke and destroy. The song has a very raw sound to it, with the crunchy grungy sound of the older pusa songs. The song also features some harmonizing vocals between Chris and Dave, but for some reason it doesn’t match the way it has sounded in the past. I think its because Dave is doing high vocals instead of his usual deep low vocals, but I don’t know for sure. I love hearing the background screaming and kicking, and I love the bass line intro. Simple riff, but melds together so well. What helps make this song so fun is that Chris uses all kinds of wacky voices, from a Lurch-like "Iwant to poke," to a being-strangled-by-Vader "and destroy." I also love the whiney way he sings, "girls talk, say it’s beautiful…" Super catchy song!!! I know I said that in the beginning, but it’s just the truest thing I can say about this song.
9.) Munkey River
Once recorded as a pusa b-side as "Monkey River…" the new "Munkey River" has gotten an overhaul. Its still a slow grooving mellow tune with sing-a-long lyrics that just paint a picture of an easy floating river adventure. Most notably they added a new bass line that fits nicely with the classic guitar intro. Also they took out the upbeat banjo bridge, and replaced it with a new one with a tempo consistent to the rest of the song. I definitely miss the craziness that came with the old version, but the new bridge does make it sound more like a traditional song bridge. To me this song always felt like a ride at a theme park, where your in a log canoe, and a bunch of animatronic monkeys were playing instruments and singing along ala "It’s a Small World." Definitely if the presidents ever had their own theme park, I would make that the main attraction (actually, I think ‘PUSA WORLD’ would be a good name for the theme park, no?) Anyhow, back to the song, I like the way the little kids voice comes in and says "good bye" (one of Ballew’s kids?) The song ends with kind of a heavier sound instead of the sensitive fade out. This will always be a great song, but it will be one that fans will debate on which version is best to. At least the updated version means the song might make some live tour appearances, which is always a good thing.
10.) Drool At You
This is another song that to me sounds like it could fit into one of the early presidents albums easily. Just something about it seems so classic pusa to me. This song came from an early Chris Ballew demo, that sounded way way different (it was a very slow one). I think the up tempo version works out great, and the chorus and title don’t seem as weird either for some reason. This song has the best guitar solo on the album in my opinion, and they way that they build up to the end is so strong and satisfying.
11.) Vestina
There is something about this song that make it stand out from the rest of the album. I think that thing is off key vocals that will make most people cringe their ears the first time they hear the song. I must admit when I heard this song, I thought it was the "what the fuck?" song on the album. On top of the awful vocals was an unskilled guitar solo that made the somewhat redeeming ending of the tune not even worth it. OK, so that was the first listen. The fifth listen… things weren’t much better, but for some reason of all the songs on the album this is the one I was humming when I wasn’t listening to it anymore. Around the tenth listen, I started to sing along… probably because I always sing out of key, and in this song you are supposed to. Plus the end of the song started sounding really really good to me. The way that you get to use kind of a british accent to sing the words, "Vestina I love yooouuu, Vestina I dooooo" was just too fun to ignore. Around listen number twenty, I was actually craving the song. It was still the "what the fuck?" song, but now it was because "what the fuck do I like about this crazy song?" And the thing is that despite first impressions, this is a catchy song, and you will soon be a musical slave to the whimsical lyrics, the feel good chords, and damn it, the ending of the song really is good!!!
12.) 5,500 Miles
Hard Rock!!! The opening to this song is heavy and raw, and drums up some major anticipation for the main riff to come in. The main riff is fast and cool, but not as full of a sound as the intro unfortunately. That doesn’t stop the song from rocking and rocking and rocking until… hold up, we have a slow groove that breaks up the rock. Very reminiscent to the way Lunatic to Love alternated between fast and slow parts. I love how Dave adds a special guitar lick every time Chris sings "California." No no, its not quite a phantom planet moment, but it does bring some extra attention to the state that the presidents have had some interesting feelings about in the past. Point in case, some of the lyrics have been changed from the original version of the song (originally called ‘home’) to protect the innocent states. The fast and slow rock alternates a few more times, until they tweak the groove for the outro. I love the way the song ends, with the best harmonizing on the album. If you aren’t singing along to this song yet, you will when the outro starts, because it just sounds so freaken AWESOME!!! Love love love this song.
13.) Shreds of Boa
My prediction is that this song will be the most popular new song in the album. It is my overall favorite song off the entire new album. Very atmospheric lyrics about the after affects of a highbrow party. Ballew uses some great words and names to describe the kinds of people, its very interesting. When he gets to the chorus, the guitar rock takes on kind of a primus sound that suits the song really well, and your ears will start to assure you, "yup we both like this song." One of my favorite things in this song are Jason Finn’s drum fills. He mixes them up at the end of each verse, and they are amazingly entertaining. Little changes from one verse to the next keep things fresh as the song moves along. The song ends with the lines, "We’re Out Again" which is not only a great way to end the album, but perhaps it’s a reference to their previous album closer, "Heading Out," because they headed out once, and now they are out again. Wonderful closer to a great new album.
14.) Jennifer’s Jacket
Yeah yeah yeah, I can already hear you wondering why I just called the last song the closer when there’s Jennifer’s’ Jacket coming in as the last track. Well I’ll tell you! The way I view this song is that it’s kind of similar to "Basketball Dreams" on the presidents II album. It doesn’t fit the mold of the rest of the album, so it’s kind of a bonus track. However that doesn’t mean its not a cool song. This song, which first poked its head on the FOAS behind the scenes footage, finally reveals its full form. It’s an acoustic song that turns into a whole production at the end when it’s joined by electric keyboard solos, electric guitar, and vocal layering. This song also reminds me a little bit of the acoustic song at the end of Chris and Tad’s "Hand Me That Door" album, just because its light hearted and silly. I love the way they add the "Jennifer’s Jacket is…." Harmonization at the end of the song, I start adding it in before they do because it feels like such a natural addition. Fun and humorous song that truly ends the album with a soft, sophisticated ending. Divine.