The Presidents of the USA
Pure Frosting
Columbia
This record has a karmic feel to it. It feels like only a short while ago that I was raving about this weird band on PopLlama (one of my favorite labels) that played a sort of spazzed-out melodic funk-rock. By the time I got to talk to Chris Ballew about one of my favorite records of the year, the band had signed to Columbia – the previous day. Not long after that, I found myself preaching to the converted. Their eponymous debut album, re-released by Columbia without the original inside cover photo of the band with Bill Clinton, sold gajillions of copies before I knew it, and by the time I ran into someone else who’d heard of them, I was subjected to the sort of backlash common to any overplayed radio single. The subsequent second album contained songs that were as unique as those on the first.
Now, here is the Prezzes’ third and final album, a collection of live, single and b-side tracks (and a TV theme). It captures the band’s spirit well, showing them as energetic musicians with a sense of musical humor to complement their aura of good-natured goofiness. This record is a good collection of tracks, both for those who blinked and missed it and for those who appreciate the band’s wry manner.
