THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Pkew Pkew Pkew might be one the most criminally underrated bands in North America. Hailing from Toronto, this pop-punk four-pack of party-loving delinquents have spent the better part of a decade relentlessly touring with bands like Pup, Reel Big Fish, The Flatliners and more. They’ve appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers. They’ve released acclaimed albums and EPs on kickass labels. Basically they’re just rad af and you should be listening to them — starting with their new album Siiick Days.
While their last album Open Bar was all about avoiding the pandemic completely, Siiick Days is all about dealing with it. Recently restructured with the addition of Kate on axe and keys (Ryan left to go live in the mountains but remains a best bud), the band has crafted an incredibly thoughtful, cohesive, introspective and hilariously joyful album. Most of the songs were written in solitary moments walking to the grocery store, riding the subway or hanging out in the Farside bathroom. Opening track The Dumbest Thing I Ever Done is about singer-bassist Mike Warne selling his Playstation after a particularly rough, Covid-plagued 2020 European tour, which sucked because the world was about to go into lockdown and no video games = no fun.
“The rest of the songs, since nothing was happening in the world, came from a place where I was forced to remember important events rather than live and write about them in the moment,” Warne explains. “Trooper Cover Band is about getting dumped and not handling it well. Goodnights is about the shitty parts of the bar scene, which I missed like crazy at the time. Read Receipts is about those tough conversations and not wanting to deal with communication at all. The Night John Buck Hit Three Home Runs was kind of kicking around for a long time. I hope it doesn’t make people sad, it’s actually a pretty happy song for me. And Hot Tub Or Bust is about hanging out on tour with my best friends.”
Siiick Days was recorded over 10 days in Asbury Park by the awesome Pete Steinkopf from The Bouncing Souls. Pete’s a really cool dude (ask anyone) and has worked with The Menzingers, Dave Haus, The Love Ones, Crazy & The Brains and a bunch more, so you know the album sounds absolutely killer. With a worrisome amount of touring booked, a buttload of insane videos ready to go and a wicked album full of bangers in the pipe, Pkew3 are poised to go from underrated to overrated with any luck.
“We’re a gang of friends who turned hanging out into hanging out and writing songs,” summarizes Warne. “I should also say, this is our best album. We all love it more than anything. It was nothing but joy to work on. May all your days be siiick.”
