Pkew Pkew Pkew – Siiick Days

Back in 2016 when Pkew Pkew Pkew released their self titled debut album, a full length of songs about drinking, getting drunk before you go out drinking and ordering a pizza before you throw up, I wouldn’t have foreseen that seven years later we would be four albums in and they have grown to become a much loved fixture of the punk circuit. They are still as celebratory as ever but on their new full length, Siiick Days, it’s not so much throwing up as growing up, but as we all know, growing up doesn’t mean always mean growing old and take it from me, it certainly doesn’t prevent the occasional overindulgence.

Pkew Pkew Pkew’s new album reflects on the pandemic, the things we missed, the things we love and the things we lost during that long dark era of streaming and finding something, anything to fill the time usually filled with friends and good times. Growth might not be the first thing that springs to mind on opening track and lead single The Dumbest Thing I Ever Done, an ode to the stupidity of selling your Playstation just before the pandemic kicked in. They continue with the pop punk joyfulness on Farside Bathroom, Read Receipts and Hot Tub Or Bust that all keep the optimistic and hopeful vibe of the album flowing nicely before Trooper Cover Band takes us to half way mark in slightly discordant melodic style.

Johan celebrates going home and sounds more akin to Darkland’s era Jesus & Mary Chain than the pop punk we all know and love, albeit coming from Toronto rather than East Kilbride. The slightly darker tone continues with Learning To Share that focuses on living together in harmony, something that was a struggle for many in the pandemic. Trespasser On The Tracks is another slice of melancholy tinged pop punk that reflects the latter stages of the pandemic mindset although Goodnights jerks you back out of a reverie with a hit of classic Pkew Pkew Pkew. The final track, The Night John Buck Hit Three Home Runs, addresses loss and how a traumatic moment can become indelibly imprinted on your mind through whatever you were experiencing when the news hit you.

Despite a pandemic, the loss of a playstation and the departure, at least from touring, of original member Ryan James McKinley, who apparently left to live in the mountains and remains good friends with the band, this is pure Pkew Pkew Pkew. Whereas their last full length, Open Bar, was skewered towards avoiding the pandemic this one is about just dealing with it, something we all had to do in our own way, and it sounds like Pkew Pkew Pkew had the perfect mindset for this if Siiick Days I anything to go by.

Siiick Days will be released on the 22nd September via Stomp Records