SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PKEW PKEW PKEW – OPTIMAL LIFESTYLES

Pkew Pkew Pkew
Optimal Lifestyles
Big Scary Monsters/Dine Alone Records

What music has come to lack, in today’s age, is the freshness and angsty volatility carried by classic punk like the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. As synth and electronic soundwaves take over our auditory channels, Optimal Lifestyles by Pkew Pkew Pkew is the much-appreciated carrier of this nostalgic freshness.

Hoisting a vintage distorted tone upon driven and consistent drumlines, Optimal Lifestyles is an easy and energetic lesson. Warne’s lyrics represent a teenage life all too familiar to any old-time follower of pop punk. The anthemic delivery serves as a reminder of emotions many of us have forgotten about. Pkew Pkew Pkew expertly balances feelings of reminiscence and loss of times and struggles older, and if I daresay, simpler ones.

Optimal Lifestyles is that album which you expect to be a decade old, but for all the right reasons. Within the first listen, the band manages to create a sense of familiarity that is usually reserved for the records you left on music players throughout adolescent summers. Singles like “I Don’t Matter At All” and “65 Nickels” particularly serve as standouts, accurately representing expectations the album fulfils. Perfectly sized at 15 tracks, Optimal Lifestyles remains true to its title, leaving nothing to be desired.

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