All bets are off. The best album title of 2006 goes to Peaches’ superlative effort. No one does double-entendre quite like the artist also known as Merrill Nisker, yet the chorus of opener ‘Fuck Or Kill’ aside, “Impeach my bush, Impeach Bush”, sees the Canadian freewheeler concern herself more with matters of the furry cup than Dubya.

Not so much in your face as (sitting) on it, Peaches continues to talk dirty on tracks including the Lil-Kim-esque ‘Tent In Your Pants’, “hurts so good I’ve got a soregasm”, and ‘Slippery Dick’. Nisker’s one-track mind has cost her in the past, though. I was once a member of a South Bank audience at David Bowie’s 2002 Meltdown which preferred what the bar had to offer than her predictably foul-mouthed tirade, causing a mass exodus from concert hall to foyer.

Yet in spite of or maybe because of her latest album’s moniker, we find Peaches broadening her range. ‘Give ‘er’ appears to be a 21st century tribute to Tina Turner’s ‘Nutbush City Limits’. And ‘You Love It’ sounds like a number straight out of Joan Jett’s songbook, not least because Jett herself sings and plays guitar on it.

As much performance artist as singer, MN positively craves attention. This is, after all, someone who gives herself black eyes because she thinks it makes her look more attractive. On ‘Impeach My Bush’, though, Peaches shows she’s worthy of such recognition.

It might be the greatest title of the year, but it’s not quite the best album. Perhaps Nisker needs to broaden her range still further to achieve that feat. We’ve got the Peaches, but we’re still waiting for the cream.
(3¾/5)

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