AMG Review of Impeach My Bush

Heather Phares
All Music Guide

On Peaches' last album, the intermittently tired- and inspired-sounding Fatherfucker, she sounded almost weary of singing about sex -- a pretty dangerous place for her to be, considering that it's her main source of inspiration. Fortunately, though, Impeach My Bush shakes that not-so-fresh feeling. Even though the album's sound sticks to the glam, punk, and electro foundations of her music, and the lyrics stick to the territory she knows best, Impeach My Bush is the sassiest and most engaged Merrill Nisker has sounded since The Teaches of Peaches. This is also most eclectic-sounding set of songs yet. Co-producers Mickey Petralia, who also made Ladytron's Witching Hour a fascinating (and totally different) sounding album, and Greg Kurstin, who has also sculpted beats for Gwen Stefani and Lily Allen, give Impeach My Bush a bigger, slicker sound than Peaches' previous work, but that helps her cover musical territory that ranges from the heavy-breathing glam/disco fusion of "Boys Wanna Be Her" to "Downtown," a breathy, almost coy confection that glides along on synth strings and sounds sexy as well as sexual -- a Peaches first. Of course, the album also has plenty of room for several different flavors of electro, be it buzzy ("Get It"), sleek ("Tent in Your Pants"), or just plain filthy ("Slippery Dick"). And while Impeach My Bush doesn't rock as hard as Fatherfucker, it rocks smarter: "You Love It" plays like a sexed-up, gender-swapped update of "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)" and is taken to the next level by Joan Jett's vocals and guitars, while "Give 'Er" boasts handclaps that could be face-slaps and backing vocals that sound like taunting battle cries. Even though Impeach My Bush's stylishly hyperactive sound is the most immediately enticing thing about the album, Peaches' inimitable lyrics make themselves known soon enough, particularly on "Rock the Shocker," where she admonishes a guy to "stop relying on your dick" and on "Two Guys for Every Girl" (which includes backing vocals by the Gossip's Beth Ditto), which name-checks Heidi Fleiss. Spilling over with dominatrix anthems in the making, Impeach My Bush shows that despite the album's not-so-thinly-veiled jab at the Commander in Chief -- and the sequined burkha Nisker wears on its cover -- Peaches is still a force to be reckoned with in the arena of sexual politics. Even if it's not as traffic-stopping as her debut, this album suggests that she can keep her music interesting for the long haul.