Living This Side of a One Hit Wonder
Writing songs about 30-foot Smurfs is hardly the way for a band to get taken seriously. An entire album filled with such things will likely get that band nowhere; making an entire career with them is almost unthinkable. For The Presidents of the United States of America, however, that is certainly not the case. For about 15 years now, The Presidents have been writing songs about frogs, peaches, volcanoes, and golf clubs and show no signs of stopping. The band’s new album, These are the Good Times People, features equally intriguing song topics such as ghosts, butterflies, and turtles. Judging by the song content alone, the band has remained pretty much the same after all these years. These are the Good Times People is not only one of their best albums to date, but also easily affirms that The Presidents are one of the most unique bands in the last 20 years. The only bad part is that most people have not even heard of them –or at least in a really long time. The truth is, they are living this side of a “one hit wonder.”
The Presidents of the United States of America was formed in Seattle in 1990 by longtime friends Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer. After announcing themselves with different names at all their early shows, they finally decided on their current name. Like all the others, it too was just one of many. Picked at random, it was the longest name that Chris Ballew could think of at the time. Needless to say, it would be this name that stuck. Like any band at that important beginning stage, the duo soon recorded a demo tape which circulated around their local area and began to earn them a cult following. Ballew and Dederer met Jason Finn in 1991, but it was after much convincing that he finally agreed to join the band. In early December 1993 The Presidents played their first show as a trio at the Romper Room in Seattle. With a solid line-up in place, the band quickly became one of the most popular bands in Seattle. Although the band signed with a small local label in 1994, they finally got a needed break when they were signed by Colombia later the following year.
When The Presidents burst on the scene in 1995 with their debut The Presidents of the United States of America, their zany sense of humor and unique approach to music were immediately hailed as the next big thing. Everything about the band was different. They came from Seattle, but were nothing like their fellow Seattle bands. Instead of playing angst-ridden, distortion-heavy grunge like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam, The Presidents favored a catchy punk-rock sound and lyrics about such things as cats, boll weevils, and blind spiders. It was not just the songs that made them different, however, it was also a few other things. Everything they wrote was an average of two minutes long and songs rarely went over the three minute mark. Their choice in instruments was equally unique. Rather than playing anything conventional, a three-stringed guitar and a two-string bass were the weapons of choice. Called the “guitbass” and “basitar” respectively, these modified instruments only added to the band’s totally unique approach to music. With only five strings between them, and an albums worth of material about who knows what, The Presidents of the United States of America were about to be on top of the world.
After releasing The Presidents of the United States of America, the band became almost an overnight sensation. After receiving support from radio and television, their music was almost everywhere. There was not an alternative rock station that the Presidents could not be heard on, and MTV even gave up coveted spots in their rotation for the band’s strange videos. In particular, it was the songs “Lump” and “Peaches” that put them over the top and gave them this mass audience. Due to the success of these songs, within a relatively short time the debut album went platinum. The band quickly embarked on a world tour, and often found themselves playing to the same type of devoted audiences that they received at home. Previously only done by artists like Weird Al, The Presidents were making a successful, professional career out of comedy rock. They were now on top of the world.
After touring the world relentlessly behind their debut, The Presidents realized that they had a good thing going and quickly went back to the studio to record. Effectively titled The Presidents of the United States of America: II, the bands second album was released in 1996, almost exactly a year after the band took off. With songs about bugs, twigs, volcanoes, and Brady Bunch tiki gods, clearly not much had changed with their sense of humor. Although the music had slowed down in spots, and some keyboards were occasionally added for texture, the core of the sound was still based on fast-paced drums, catchy hooks, and an energy that was as consistent as it was quirky. Notably, the band even continued doing everything with just five strings. The Presidents of the United States of America: II was everything that a sophomore album should be: a reinforcement in sound without re-doing the same things. Although there is always an inherent difficulty in finding that balance, The Presidents managed to pull if off. What they did not pull off, however, was keeping an audience.
Despite the strong reviews their new album garnished, The Presidents were not getting the attention they got before. If they seemed to appear on the scene almost overnight, they disappeared in about the same time; like a brilliant flash, they were around one minute and gone the next. It is difficult to figure out why exactly it happened. It was not that their second album was bad, because that is certainly not the case. It was also not that they had changed, or that they did something that could have affected their popularity. Perhaps they were just a bit too different. Perhaps, too, they just were not taken seriously enough. More than anything, though, it was probably the fact that the whole Seattle scene was dying. Kurt Cobain was gone, Pearl Jam was suffering from their battle with Ticketmaster, Alice and Chains was playing their last shows, and Soundgarden was breaking up. As The Presidents were always tied tight to this scene, when it suffered so did they. In a way, if the band was a reaction against grunge, or a foil to grunge’s protagonist, then when grunge goes away, they go with it. The reasons for the loss in popularity could be any combination of those things, but no matter what caused it, it happened.
Despite the lackluster sales of II and the declining Seattle scene, however, the band did continue to tour and make notable radio and television appearances. In addition, they managed to cover “Cleveland Rocks” for The Drew Carey Show theme song and “Video Killed the Radio Star” for The Wedding Singer. The acclaim and attention reached with “Lump” and “Kitty” was never fully regained, though. This previous success seemed to loom large and so after three years of relentless touring, working, and attempting to hold onto their fame, the band decided to call it quits. A collection of new tracks and B-Sides called Pure Frosting was released in March of 1998. This would serve as their third and final album for Colombia and a parting gift their fans. It collected songs that would have made up a third official album, as well as the covers done for TV and film. This time, as a last impression, the songs touched on Japan, sunshine, and mobile homes. Not surprisingly, even as culmination of leftover tracks, Pure Frosting was as strong as the albums that preceded it. With this icing on the cake so to speak, The Presidents of the United States of America had officially ended their term in office.
After ending the band, Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer, and Jason Finn returned home to spend time with family and friends, and devote time to other projects. Ballew formed bands called The Giraffes and The Chris and Tad Show, Dederer joined Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff Mckagan on a few projects, and Finn returned to his original band Love Battery, which he originally left to join The Presidents. For the most part, however, all of these projects were small and relatively unknown to a mass audience. In an interesting turn of events, a few years after the break up all three members ended up working with Sir Mix-A-Lot in a hip-hop rock band called Subset. Even with this full band collaboration in hand, it seemed like the band was still a done deal. From their breakup until the present, the Presidents were nowhere to be seen or heard, they were clearly taking the whole thing pretty serious.
In 2000, a small internet-based label approached the group about releasing new material. The band agreed, and soon released a few new singles. Due to contractual obligations, the band first reformed as The Quitters and then as just The Presidents before they were allowed to record under their original name. Freaked Out and Small was released on September 12, 2000, but only 25,000 copies were pressed. The release was so far under the radar most people —even many long time fans— were completely unaware of the reformation or the release. Although, all things considered, Freaked Out and Small was strong. Songs this time dealt with planets, Death Stars, and science experiments, and the music itself was still intact. While the album was good, however, it did feel a little different than their earlier work. Perhaps it was the fact that they actually played with conventional instruments, or maybe it was just that they had been away from the band for so long that things had changed. Whatever it was, there seemed to be a noticeable difference in the band. Shortly after the release, the label folded and the band went their separate ways once more. It seemed that Freaked Out and Small was just a one off release.
Seemingly out of nowhere, in 2003 The Presidents announce that they are back together and set to record a new album’s worth of material. As the distance from their1995 success has only grown bigger, even fewer people knew about this second reformation. But worldwide success was not the issue. There was no way that they could hope to cash in with a reunion tour or a big release from a long departed band. Most of the fan base had long since gone anyway so this type of drive would have made no sense. Importantly, the reunion was more for their own benefit than anything else; the fact was that they enjoyed making music together. The band released their new album Love Everybody on August 17, 2004. Picking up where they left off years ago, The Presidents sounded like themselves again. Freaked Out and Small was good, but this was an official comeback, like a visit from an old friend. Songs this time were about jackets, postmen, and positions in advertising. Notably, they were also back to the five string approach. Unlike Freaked Out and Small, the album received store distribution and began to collect a crowd, however small it was. It was like the Presidents were starting back at page one again, but that was not important. The important thing was that they were together and making music. The Presidents were back for an official second term.
After dealing with the loss of success, a failed reunion attempt, signing to a doomed label, and not playing a show together for five years, The Presidents of the United States of America are currently doing pretty well. They have been doing small tours of the United States, Europe, and Australia and are beginning to appear in at festivals. Movement has been steady for the band since they got back together. The only notable change is that Dave Dederer recently relinquished guitbass duties to Andew Mckeag to focus on his family, but he is still involved in the band. On March 11, 2008 they released their fifth official album called These are the Good Times People which is getting rave reviews. The album is so good, it feels like the band is hitting their stride again. Will they ever get the success that they had in 1995, though? Probably not. However, in the end, does that really matter? Is it even necessary to measure a band by hits? The answer is no. Despite lack of success The Presidents are one of the most unique bands of our age. Living this side of a one hit wonder can be tough, but if anyone can do it, they can.
