Pkew Pkew Pkew – Self-Titled Review
Posted: by Steven Lalonde
In the year 2016, in this fast-paced world we live in, mostly everything comes down to the adage: “try and squeeze as much as possible in a minimum amount of time,” whether it’s 5 minute abs, 10 minute dinner, 12 minute work week, it seems like everybody wants everything done as fast as possible. What if I ask you, what can you accomplish in 21 minutes? A workout? Cook a meal? Read a chapter from a book? 21 minutes is also just enough time to crack open a beer and jam out to the raucous self-titled debut release from Pkew Pkew Pkew.
Hailing from “stupid-small towns” across southern Ontario, Pkew Pkew Pkew is a four-piece party punk band that was formed, oddly enough, because of a simple Craigslist ad. The fact that the band was formed because of said ad is not surprising, given the nature of the album. Pkew Pkew Pkew manage to pack in 21 minutes of boisterous, nostalgia-inducing punk rock in 11 tracks. Vocally (all four members sing by the way) the band take listeners on a fun-filled ride, as they are able to embody the voices of many punk rockers that came before him. And maybe that’s what got me. The fact that they can sound like Rancid, Pennywise and even on one track “Glory Days” a Brian Fallon type all within the same 21 minute span is a huge plus in my books.
Lyrically, the songs are not composed in a complex manner. If one were to solely glance at song titles, they would immediately understand that the sole purpose of the album is to invoke any sort of punk rock nostalgia. With track titles such as “Let’s Order a Pizza” or “Mid 20s Skateboarder,” the band creates a comforting, mid to late-90s anthemic, sing-along punk rock album that will simply make you feel like you’re 16 years old again — while at the same time providing a certain sense of relief due to the lack of “fancy-shmancy” connotation dug deep within the record. The final track “Drinking in the Park” perhaps encapsulates the entire album the best. It’s relatively easy to figure out that the song is essentially about getting really, really, really drunk with your friends, something that we’ve all been through, and maybe still go through.
When considering the instrumentation and and musical combinations, let’s be honest, there is nothing special about it. The guitar and drums – though slashing and smashing respectively – are arranged in a way that any fan of punk rock knows all too well. Although some may brand the style or album as “generic”, the varying vocal styles blended with the music provides a simple, yet reassuring 11-song anthology that may remind listeners, that new music doesn’t always have to be layered with deep, and sometimes exhausting meaning, not to say that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just, sometimes, a band like Pkew Pkew Pkew comes along and provides an uplifting, fast-paced, good old-fashioned punk rock record without needing all the emotional investment that one would require with most new albums released in this day and age.
Score: 7/10
