With an election year approaching, what better time for a Presidents Of The United States Of America revival?

Yes, the same good-natured, kung fu-loving, funny men of '90s alternative-rock — the same ones who brought you "Peaches" and "Lump" — are back, and man, could America use a laugh.

The inauguration is March 11, when PUSA drops These Are Good Times People on Fugitive Records, an offshoot of EMI. The first single is "Mixed Up SOB," and it promises to be a bouncy bit of infectious party pop. And just to show they've been paying attention to the indie scene of the new millennium, there's a Shins-like quality to "Loose Balloon."

This is not insignificant news here people. Their debut has sold 4.5 million copies. Remember the days when record companies could push those kind of numbers?

These days, the lineup includes original members Chris Ballew, vocalist and basitar (half guitar, half bass), and drummer Jason Finn, as well as new guitbass player Andrew McKeag.

A world tour begins in March. For more information, visit www.presidentsrock.com and/or http://www.myspace.com/thepresidentsoftheunitedstatesofamerica.

Jazz was music critic Ralph J. Gleason's passion, but the man who co-founded Rolling Stone magazine with Jann Wenner was keenly interested in the connection between song, society and culture, and that got him into some hot water.

During the turbulent '60s, Gleason's fascination with the protest movements of the time exposed him to more a rock-oriented crowd, and his writings reflected a change in the wind.

According to his son, Toby (pictured at right), Gleason's penchant for mixing politics and music in his music column for the San Francisco Chronicle drew the ire of his editors. "They were always saying, 'You're a music critic. Write about music. Don't write about stuff that's not music,'" recalls Toby. "He felt that since music was just part of a socio-cultural development, that it was all the same thing."

Gleason's stances didn't win him any friends at the White House either. Reportedly, Toby says, he made President Richard Nixon's third published enemies list. Gleason was actually quite proud of that.

"He actually called it I believe in a television news interview the highest honor this country could bestow upon him and the only one an honest man would accept," says Toby.

Though Gleason did help found Rolling Stone and did serve as associate editor, Toby explains that his dad was "not strongly influential in the content of the magazine. He was instrumental, if you'll pardon the pun, in getting the magazine the record business advertising in its initial stages, which was responsible for its survival. And certainly, to the reading public, he was intimately intertwined in the creation and history of early Rolling Stone, but it was always Jann's thing. If anything, what my father hoped to do was guide Jann."

Gleason was highly regarded as a music critic and also, was a noted television producer. It was he who pulled the strings that made A Night At The Family Dog possible. Not familiar with that show?
It aired in 1970 and featured amazing performances from Santana, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane at the legendary San Francisco music venue The Family Dog. Eagle Rock Entertainment has released concert footage from that show in a DVD called "Ralph J. Gleason Presents A Night At The Family Dog."

Toby says his dad loved the show, and so does Toby.

"He thought it was fabulous, as do I," says Toby. "It's a great show. It is actually just about my favorite performances of every band — not necessarily of Santana; I'm a big fan of Santana, and he did later performances that I also liked, but for the time, it's one of the best performances of each band. It's Carlos when, gosh, he was a speck. He's like 12 years old — not really, but he looks really, really young."

Another highlight of the DVD is the presence of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan playing keyboards with The Grateful Dead. He would later die, and the Dead would abandon much of its blues character while opting for a more jammy, bluegrass feel.

For more information about the DVD, visit www.eaglerockent.com. And to read more about the concert, which was originally closed to the public, read the Jan. 4 issue of Goldmine.

What were some amazing concerts you witnessed? Respond to this blog and we'll discuss.

No longer considered commercial suicide, protest music can actually be profitable. Don't think for a second that Rage Against The Machine took a bath on its massive reunion tour last summer.

Whatever Rage's motives for getting back together, there's no doubt the band's pockets have been sufficiently lined, and now, Zack de la Rocha can retreat to Central America and join some rebel uprising against a puppet dictator propped up by the U.S. government (I think we still do that sort of thing, don't we?), knowing his finances are secure.

Forgive the cynicism. It's hard to resist taking pot shots at Rage when they so clearly love standing on the pulpit and preaching to the choir — and believe me, this is coming from someone who leans as left as they come.

But, this post isn't about Rage Against The Machine. It's about State Radio, Rage's quieter, more reflective, ally in the agitprop war against the Bush Administration, and man, does State Radio's Chad Stokes have it in for the First Family. The fiery, punk-fueled "Guantanamo," off the band's sophomore effort, Year Of The Crow, is not only a rundown of George W.'s war crimes, it also skewers the Bush family on its shameful Indian rights record — evidently, President Bush's grandfather, Prescott, excavated Geronimo's skull in 1918 for the express purpose of having his secret society at Yale rub it at initiation ceremonies. How's that for politically incorrect?

Halliburton, Darfur, the West Memphis Three — if Public Enemy was the CNN of the black community, State Radio is at least the Air America of indie rock. Touching on a number of hot-button issues, Stokes' passionate polemics are best delivered in white-hot rockers like "Gang Of Thieves." Though State Radio lacks the fury and flat-out speed of Bad Brains, on Year Of The Crow, Stokes and company move through reggae workouts "C.I.A." and "Sudan" with skillful ease, before high-stepping their way into the horn-fueled, ska frenzy of "Barnstorming."

State Radio is a diverse musical melting pot, and while Year Of The Crow provides plenty of food for thought, it doesn't seem to provoke the fist-pumping activism that Rage does. But State Radio doesn't go all in for explosive, balls-out punk or metal. Its response to injustice is more measured, more thoughtful. Not all of the mixing of genres is successful on Year Of The Crow, but that doesn't mean State Radio should be shut down. Turn it on if you're heading to a rally.

For more on State Radio, visit www.stateradio.com or www.myspace.com/stateradio