I got myself a brand new toob amplifier....

Okay, I'll level with you. When I came up with the idea for this weeks Bands You Only Know One Song By Blah Blah Blah / Nerd Rock week I didn't really check whether I had enough bands to keep things going. There are some acts that I would like to write about, such as Marcy Playground and Everclear that I don't have the videos for. So I'm pushing it a little with todays post as well but... here goes

The Presidents Of The United States Of America, or PTUSA to their mates, are more of a one hit album wonder than anything. Their eponymous debut featured three storming singles - Lump, Peaches and Dune Buggy, and they quickly took the not-particularly-coveted mantel of "Novelty Grunge". However, to describe them as such does them a great disservice. As songwriters, they have an ear for a catchy song and witty lyrics. Whilst at times they wander lyrically into the deliberately quirky (and willfully irritating) furrow plowed by the likes of They Might Be Giants, their sped-up bluegrass/psycho-billy/punk pop more than makes up for it. They are also great musicians, producing all manner of catchy riffs from a guitar and bass boasting five strings between them. Infact, paired down and scuzzed up describes them to a tee. Think The Melvins crossed with Primus and you can't go wrong

PTUSA followed the successful debut with the cleverly titled II, which very few people seem to know exists. Whilst the songs might be more of the same, they're still good songs. It's another party half hour packed with songs about shoes, frogs and new guitar amps. Sensibly the band decided to call it a day after that album, wanting to be remembered as being fun rather than tiresome. To celebrate, the record label put out Pure Frosting, a compilation of B-sides, soundtrack contributions and live recordings, which offers something for even the casual fan.

Except...er...there appears to be a new album released a couple of years back. The last two videos posted are taken from that album. Whilst I don't think Some Postman is their finest hour, the video is just too cool not to put up. It was made using lots of little camera phones. Neat, as the kids say

Presidents Of The United States Of America - Lump



The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Love Everybody




The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Some Postman