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Pkew Pkew Pkew

Siiick Days

Written by: PP on 13/12/2023 22:55:33

You gotta strike while the iron's hot. Fresh off the heels of their genre classic "Open Bar" last year, everyone's favourite shout-it-out-loud no-frills pop punkers Pkew Pkew Pkew are back with yet another solid record, "Siiick Days". Four albums down, their tongue-in-cheek, incredibly simplistic pop punk continues to be irresistible thanks to its dumb charm and their unbelievable knack for writing beer-fueled sing-along melodies.

If drinking tallboys in the hot tub, songs about PlayStation, or taking a break in the bathroom sounds like your desired level of artistry required for a great album, Pkew Pkew Pkew has you covered. These sing-alongs are stupefyingly dumb but oh-so-goddamn memorable. It's usually the same line repeated over and over again, but it's also unpretentious and gloriously straightforward in the best kind of way. If you can resist singing along to "Farside Bathroom" or "The Dumbest Thing I Ever Done" there's something wrong with you.

Still, "Siiick Days" isn't quite as consistent as the previous album. For instance, the dark, Teenage Bottlerocket-inspired "Read Receipts" isn't quite the party like the aforementioned songs, and "Trooper Cover Band" just isn't up to their usual standards. "Learning To Share" has a great chorus, but its quiet verses don't hit quite as strongly as, say, "Hot Tub Or Bust".

But to counter these are anthems like "Trespasser On The Tracks" and "Goodnights", both of which strangle a sing-along out of the listener whether they like it or not. The latter is a great example of Pkew Pkew Pkew at their best: rowdy, a little bit chaotic, and out-of-tune, yet with bright guitars, upbeat melodies, and super-simple lyrics that you can shout back at them no matter how many beers down you are for the night.

So where does that put "Siiick Days"? Well, on the Pkew Pkew Pkew scale, it's somewhere on par with "Optimal Lifestyles". It feels a little more laid-back much like that album, at least when comparing to their brilliant debut and last year's masterpiece. Still, some of the anthemic sing-alongs here are more than worthy of your time.

Download: Farside Bathroom, The Dumbest Thing I Ever Done, Hot Tub Or Bust, Trespasser On The Tracks, Goodnights
For the fans of: PUP, Direct Hit!, Teenage Bottlerocket, Nightmarathons, The Hextalls
Listen: Facebook

Release date 22.09.2023
Stomp Records