Kansas indie posters Electric Needle room do a concept album? That’s one way of looking at. Another way would be to assume that their former – and no doubt psychotic – history teacher had tracked them down and made them write songs at gunpoint about the first fifteen American presidents and they had better make it educational while they were at it. Or it would be brains on the wallpaper.
Low budget is the best way of describing the production values with little sign that any of these fifteen songs cost any more to record than, say, a cinema ticket. Oddly enough, that adds to the charm (if that’s the word to use) of this earnest little project and, as a bonus, I felt so much smarter after listening too for I now know that George Washington is the only president to receive 100% of the electoral votes. Not that there isn’t a bit of subversion hiding in there too with a recalcitrant reappropriation of a dance floor riff taking place in “Andrew Jackson”. Nearly forgot – Martin Van Buren was the first president to be born an American citizen. See, my synapses are now crackling with pub quiz knowledge.
There’s a point of view that would suggest that if the creative muse takes you back to school then you aren’t spending nearly enough time with strippers. Writing songs about the first fifteen presidents of the Unites States is the dumbest idea for an album that I’ve heard this year (but it is only February…) but it gave me a laugh and I’m already waiting for the hardcore club remixes that must surely follow this release.