The Presidents Of The United States Of America formed in Seattle during the grunge explosion. They were influenced by Nirvana, but took a very different approach lyrically, writing songs with lots of levity. They described their sound as "funge" - grunge, but fun.
Chris Ballew carried the low end with a guitar fitted with just two strings, and Dave Dederer played one with just three strings. They called these contraptions a "basitar" and a "guitbass." Drummer Jason Finn was also handicapped with a much smaller kit than most rock drummers would use. This gave them a signature sound and accentuated the vocals. Creatively, it worked well for Ballew, who told Songfacts: "One of the beautiful things about playing a 2-string is, you can take the Buzzcocks, Kiss, The Beatles, Boston, and Steve Miller and put them all through the 2-string and it sounds fresh. I can wear my my influences on my sleeve and still feel like I'm being original."
The band made a big impact in 1995 with their first major-label album, which contained the hits "Peaches," "Kitty," and "Lump." Their next one didn't do nearly as well, and they got burned out from the constant touring and promotion. In 1997 they announced their split, but still landed two big placements with cover songs: Their version of "Video Killed The Radio Star" appeared in the movie The Wedding Singer, and their version of "Cleveland Rocks" became the theme song to The Drew Carey Show. The band returned to action in 2000, when they released their third album, but they kept a much lighter schedule. In 2016, they announced on Facebook that they have "retired from the PUSA business since we are OLD PEOPLE NOW!"
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