Jason Finn - drums
Chris Ballew - basitar
Dave Dederer - guitbass
(sometimes replaced on tour by Andrew McKeag)

Formed in Seattle in the mid 90s, in the midst of a grunge scene falling apart, The Presidents of the United States of America are an unashamedly insane trio of fuzzy pop-rock with tales of runaway insects, arachnids driving buggies and monkeys learning to play guitar. They were a breath of fresh air for some, and highly irritating to others.

Recording their eponymous debut album for around $8,000 dollars, they were eventually signed to Columbia Records, and hit the airwaves with 'Lump' in 1995. Both this and follow up 'Peaches' and 'Dune Buggy' charted well, but the late 1996 follow-up effort II did not fare as well. The band split one year late in late 1997.

Although they did not play together publically for a long time, they were persuaded by a new record label, Musicblitz, to meet up and record an album, Freaked Out and Small, at the turn of the century. By the time the album was done, Musicblitz realised it would never have the funds to make a true attempt at getting the album distributed properly and promptly became an internet-only company. Despite the single 'Jupiter' garnering a great reception, only a few thousand copies of Freaked Out and Small were ever sold as Musicblitz folded.

Whilst all members went off to work with other artists, they made the collective decision to reform in 2004 with the release of fourth album Love Everybody on their own label PUSA. They walked away from numerous contract offers to retain their own recording rights, and in late 2004 the rights to their debut album The Presidents of the United States of America defaulted to them, enabling them to re-issue it twice: once in 2005 with extra tracks, followed by a straight re-issue of the original album in 2006 with a low price tag.

PUSA continue to have a strong following in the UK, although they are largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Releases

• These Are The Good Times People - album, out 10/03/2008 on Cooking Vinyl. 1 review (read/post)
• The Presidents of the United States of America - album, out 15/05/2006 on PUSA. 1 review (read/post)
• Love Everybody - album, out 14/02/2005. (post review)
• Freaked Out and Small - album, out 11/09/2000 on Musicblitz. (post review)
• Pure Frosting - album, out 09/03/1998 on Columbia Records. (post review)
• II - album, out 04/11/1996 on Columbia Records. (post review)
• The Presidents Of The United States Of America - album, out 31/07/1995 on Columbia Records. 1 review (read/post)

Past events

• Thu 29 May at Paris Le trabendo. (post review)
• Thu 24 Aug at Bristol Academy. (post review)
• Wed 23 Aug at Newcastle upon Tyne Academy. (post review)
• Tue 22 Aug at Glasgow Carling Academy. (post review)
• Sun 20 Aug at Nottingham Rock City. (post review)
• Sat 20 May at London Astoria. (post review)

News

• 05/01/2005: Presidents of the United States return for third LP

Features

• 29/10/2006: The Weekly DiScussion: How do you DiScover new music?

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