{"id":76469,"date":"2019-02-28T15:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T15:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=76469"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:25:02","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:25:02","slug":"review-pkew-pkew-pkew-optimal-lifestyles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-pkew-pkew-pkew-optimal-lifestyles\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pkew Pkew Pkew &#8211; Optimal Lifestyles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-76481 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-30x30.jpg 30w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PPP-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>&#8220;Gruff punk&#8221; is an odd label, yet it somehow manages to describe Spanish Love Songs, The Menzingers, and of course <strong>Pkew Pkew Pkew<\/strong> to a tee. The countless bands who fall under that label are a far cry away from the sickly whining of post-00&#8217;s pop-punk, but a good medium that encapsulates the traditional spirit of punk rock.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, <strong>PPP<\/strong>&#8216;s second album channels the typical late 20&#8217;s\/early 30&#8217;s woes of ageing into carrying on hedonistic partying from their youth.\u00a0This is made unashamedly clear from the chorus of the opening track &#8216;<em>Still Hanging Out After All These Years&#8217;, <\/em>&#8220;<em>we&#8217;re still the same old kids no one cared about, we&#8217;re going to drink these beers and pass the fuck out&#8221;.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Pkew Pkew Pkew - 65 Nickels (Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EkJcKVh5pcQ?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Structurally the instrumental performances on <em>&#8216;Optimal Lifestyles&#8217;<\/em> are satisfying and punchy. They instantly tug at your heartstrings and make you want to air drum\/guitar in public without a care in the world. Accompanying this, guitarists Mike Warne and Ryan McKinley sound a lot more distinct in their vocal and songwriting abilities this time around, with compelling storytelling that isn&#8217;t just about getting fucked up with your friends, or wallowing in complete self-pity.\u00a0 There are of course a few songs like that, namely &#8216;<em>Drinking Days&#8217; and &#8217;65 Nickles&#8217;,\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>but also it would be far too serious without the admittedly fun cliches, in moderation of course.<\/p>\n<p>Taking a jab at industry snobs and spoiled millennials that attend punk shows, the mantra of &#8216;<em>Adult Party&#8217;, &#8220;rich kids, go fuck yourselves, if there&#8217;s someone in the audience or somewhere else&#8221; <\/em>is a fatigued cry against those ruining the fun for those who&#8217;ve worked hard all their lives to get to where they are now.<\/p>\n<p>Technically polished, straightforward and insatiably catchy, <em>&#8216;Optimal Lifestyles&#8217; <\/em>offers us a chance to reflect on the shitty things in our life and laugh right back at them with a positive outlook on everything.<\/p>\n<p>4.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018Optimal Lifestyles\u2019<\/em> by\u00a0<strong>Pkew Pkew Pkew<\/strong> is released on 1st March on <strong>Big Scary Monsters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pkew Pkew Pkew <\/strong>links: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pkewx3.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/en-gb.facebook.com\/PkewX3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PKEWX3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pkewx3\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pkewx3.bandcamp.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ashwin Bhandari (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GIVEUPOX17\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@GIVEUPOX17<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Technically polished, straightforward and insatiably catchy&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":76481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15315,2884,1264,16640,733],"class_list":["post-76469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-ashwin-bhandari","tag-big-scary-monsters","tag-dine-alone-records","tag-optimal-lifestyles","tag-pkew-pkew-pkew"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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