At its best, the Presidents of the United States of America is better than the sum of its parts -- those being novelty rock, naïveté, often annoying vocal stylings, and gotta-be ironic pop-punk fuzz and drum fills. On their own, each of these traits is pretty awful, but PUSA manage to mix them in the right combinations more often than not on These Are the Good Times People. If you can get past the idea that in 2008, 13 years after "Lump," these guys can't possibly be cool, you will find catchy and worthwhile stuff here. Catchy has never been a problem for PUSA -- if it didn't so often spoil the fun with dumb lyrics, it might be remembered among the best of the mid-1990s pop-punk. Not quite Green Day, but certainly its pop sensibilities are better than acts like the Lemonheads and the Offspring.

Opening track "Mixed Up S.O.B." is a foot-stomping sing-along in the mold of their own "Mach 5" or Blink-182's "All the Small Things." The promising start is immediately undercut by "Ladybug," a silly bug song (as opposed to silly animal or fruit songs, other specialties of lesser PUSA) that shows the group can still drift into They Might Be Giants territory. The album proceeds in on-again, off-again fashion, by our count more on than off. When the band sticks to its formula, as on the fake-country "Truckstop Butterfly" and the chugga-chugga verses on "Rot in the Sun," it hits the target. Deviations aren't usually as good (notably "More Bad Times" and "French Girl"), although "Sharpen Up Those Fangs," the second best track on the album, deals in strange rhyme and meter, and succeeds. Ultimately, though, this album depends on precedent more than most: If you never cared for PUSA, These Are the Good Times People won't change your mind. But if you always thought they were underrated, you'll still feel that way -- and you'll come away with five or six iPod-worthy tracks.

-- Josh Robertson