The Presidents of The United States of America

Is this album by The Presidents of The United States of America something you should hear before you die? No, of course not. It's nothing new and the amusing lyrics get boring after a while. But it is a lot of fun and after hearing it for the first time in almost 25 years, I gave it another spin while screaming out half of the lyrics.

Some time ago, in the official 1001 list, I gave a 5-star rating to a band/album named "The United States Of America". When this album started, I was really afraid to give another 5 stars, and now I'm giving it to the President. It'd be a shame to me to praise a country like that so much 🙃, especially in 2026. Happily (?), this one was a good album, but it ends up not being a bit repetitive and derivative to my ears.

This album has all of the Presidents of the United States of America's hits on it.... Lump, Peaches, Kitty, Boll Weevil, Dune Buggy...... Alt rock that doesn't take itself seriously at all. Kinda similar to the quirkiness of Primus. I think my first exposure to Presidents of the USA was through Weird Al's parody of Lump (his song was called Gump.... It was on his album Bad Hair Day). Favourite songs: Lump, Peaches, Feather Pluckn, Dune Buggy, Kick Out the Jams, Back Porch, Naked and Famous, Boll Weevil, Kitty, Candy, Confusion, Candy Cigarette, Carolyn's Booty Least favourite songs: Wake Up, Stranger 5/5

It’s possible I have heard this album before… it was up my alley in the mid-90s but I never purchased it. It’s certain that I knew several songs from the album. Listening this time, I was blown away by how good Lump sounds! Really a fantastic track. I also was completely enamored by “Kitty” and I had “Peaches” on a mix tape or something because I heard that fairly often. Great album, great representative of that mid-90s sound!

No-nonsense rock music. Very straightforward and enjoyable.

These guys had a huge moment back in the day and now I fear they are underrated. Weird Al parodies them for Gods sake!

funny, simple, light but not empty, I find them irresistible since 1995

Wow. This was such a big part of my mid-nineties life, and one of only a very handful of bands I've been to see play live - twice. I have this on a CD that is now probably over thirty years old. Blimey. Putting it on now - I'm once again totally won over by the sheer ridiculousness of Kitty. I look down the track list and see some wonderful familiar titles - and there's also the impending dread of having to listen to "body" again. I can't quite explain the gnawing, aching apprehension about it. I've never liked it. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I remember. Ok, so yes it is as bad as I remember. It's a horrible song, and while I can get behind some of the reasoning that "nothing the Presidents do should be taken seriously" - especially given that the entire rest of the album is all about fun, frivolous, meaningless fripperies - but the song casts me back solidly to those times in the 90s that weren't much fun. Thankfully, we go straight from there back into Back Porch, which is just grand again. I mean - just seeing the title of this guaranteed a five-star rating from me, but man. I really wish they hadn't kept Body on the album.

4.5

I remember these guys at the time. They were fresh and quirky. They still are and I still like them.

Fun, upbeat songs!

All-nonsense rock music, and we like that. Slightly punk-adjacent rock music singing about cocks and balls and whatever, and we like that.

There is nothing more dangerous than some folks who know music making music and confident enough to be wackadoodles about it

This one raises a question. Can one-trick ponies be suggested for the list? And this even if the trick is idiosyncratic and / or memorable? Don't get me wrong, it's a fun album, and the songs in it are most often catchy AND going to interesting places. "Lump", "Peaches" or "Kitty" are excellent singles, the deeper cuts are nice as well, and the (now clearly dated) aesthetics still retain their nineties charm. I have owned this record for quite some time, and it's always pleasurable to return to it. Yet as benevolent as my personal feelings are about this one, I think the spark of undeniably great albums from that era is still missing there. But as I recently said in a recent review (about a totally different record), maybe we should drop the pretense that everything should be about "high stakes" in our listening habits -- at least once in a while. So even if I doubt there will be enough room for this record in my own finite list of 1001 keepers, I still leave the door open to it. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 83 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 105 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 212 ---- Émile, j'ai vu ta dernière réponse. J'essaie de trouver le temps de te laisser la mienne dans les jours qui viennent. Désolé, ça fait longtemps que je te dis ça, mais la situation est un peu compliquée par chez moi en ce moment... Rien de grave, mais je trouve pas beaucoup de temps pour moi. Porte-toi bien

Brings back some memories

Rock alternativo. Dos megahits. Un 4, venga.

My high school debate teacher played ‘Peaches’ for us once and it kinda changed my whole outlook on what songs could be about. This LP is at its best when it cranks the guitars to the max, and occupies a pretty distinct niche with its grungy feel yet tongue-in-cheek attitude. Some of the lyricism hasn’t aged well, though, and not every track hits memorably throughout. Still, this is still a unique listen even to this day and feels worthy of recognition here on the list.

I certainly get the appeal - it's tidily performed and catchy, and I'd never object to listening to some. At length it wears on me, primarily I think because lyrically it is essentially free of content.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: We are not going to make it, Body

Pretty nice

This band seems very silly and very ridiculous. Definitely having a good time, very much fit a mid 90s vibe. I remember a couple of these songs. Enjoyable enough to listen to today.

Meh

I prefer the Weird Al version of Lump. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Now this is music 5 Some of you people fascinate me Ok after the silliness it's not too bad

Was familiar with the peaches song but not the rest of the album, I did find this album a good bit of 90’s teenage alt rock fun. A bit corny at times but still good fun.

This is how oddball quirky albums should be made. Off the wall lyrics with some solid instrumentals that fit nicely into a genre. Even better when that genre is 90s alternative that is always a good listen. Lump is a classic song and the whole album is fun and ridiculous while still being pretty cohesive and well crafted. 7.4/10

Lump and Peaches were nice memories; the rest of the album felt quite dated. Not an unpleasant experience by any means.

April 10, 2026 HL: "Lump", "Boll Weevil", "Peaches", "We're Not Going To Make It", "Wake Up" (bonus track) I'm not a smart man, but I know what a classic is: the song "Peaches" rest of the album is hit or miss, but still enjoyable.

Finns ett par-tre låtar som jag gillar sedan tidigare. Sen slutar det där.

I remember when bands like this became popular. I never really saw the appeal. Sort of juvenile, not especially talented, and kind of boring. 2 stars.

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The band's promo image made me think "wow, these people seem absolutely insufferable". Unfortunately, I was correct.

He's Gump! He's Gump! He's Gump! Is he inbred?