PKEW PKEW PKEW - Optimal Lifestyles LP (White / Black Splatter Vinyl)

Label: Big Scary Monsters

Canada’s Pkew Pkew Pkew’s Optimal Lifestyles feels more like a fourth or fifth album than a sophomore record, but perhaps that’s because their self-titled debut had them moving fast enough that they traveled through time. The band brings the same punk energy, though it has been refined and honed into something extra special.

“Aging party punk” is an accurate description of these songs, which is only supported by the semi tongue in cheek title and the artwork that serves as a perfect visualization of both the aftermath of a party and the aftermath of a lifestyle as a whole. Much of this album sees the band coming to terms with getting older, while celebrating continued youth. This leads to what almost feels like nostalgia for the present. Yes, there is an acknowledgement of the fact that drinking, skating, and staying in shitty hotels has more of an effect on their bodies than it used to, but that is met with a genuine certainty that it doesn’t matter because there’s nothing else they’d rather do. Albeit flawed, this is the dream.