U:MACK
Present
PISSED JEANS
OAK
BOOM JACKSON
WEDNESDAY MAY 14
WHELANS OF WEXFORD STREET
DOORS 8pm
TICKETS €16 FROM ROAD RECORDS, CITY DISCS, SOUND
CELLAR, SPINDIZZY, WAV BOX OFFICE 1890 200078 & ONLINE
AT www.tickets.ie/umack
www.myspace.com/pissedjeansband
TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR FOR TONIGHTS PISSED JEANS CONCERT
Rock'n'Roll wildmen Pissed Jeans make their debut
irish apearance at Whelans on wednesday may 14. Their
brutal, beautiful feedback-drenched riffs have led to
Comparisons to Jesus Lizard & Flipper.
Pissed Jeans
The Straight World is a shallow, boring, soul-sucking
vortex. This is where most folks spend their quiet,
desperate lives. Working to consume, consuming to
achieve status. Distractions like celebrity watching
and religion are supposed to provide entertainment and
meaning. Here, life on the edge means driving a Ford.
It’s nearly impossible for those of us who despise the
Straight World to avoid it. Many of us spend 8 hours a
day there just to survive. The Straight World doesn’t
take kindly to aberrance. That’s why some of us would
rather not reveal ourselves. We move like shadows
through the Straight World, keeping our secrets. We
don’t need smoke to make ourselves disappear.
Matt Korvette has a secret. He’s a mild-mannered
claims adjuster by day, up to his white collar in the
Straight World. But as soon as he clocks out, he rips
off his shirt revealing the sweaty, loose-limbed punk
fronting the Pissed Jeans. No one at the insurance
company has a clue. At 25 he’s been playing in bands
for over half his life, mostly with guitarist Bradley
Fry. Bradley’s got a secret too. The folks in Account
Management have no idea that he’s the solid-statesman
of Pissed Jeans renown, the one behind those brutal,
beautiful feedback-drenched riffs. Matt and Brad grew
up with bassist Dave Rosenstraus in the all-ages scene
which coalesced around the Allentown, PA free-for-all
fun-space, Jeff the Pigeon (RIP). Before recording
their first single for Sub Pop, the stunning “Don’t
Need Smoke to Make Myself Disappear” (which sold
through two pressings!) the trio hooked up with
ex-Navies drummer Sean McGuinness who relocated to PA
from DC.
Pissed Jeans offer Hope for Men, their new album on
Sub Pop. It kicks off with “People Person,” a
frenetic, pounding rhythm over which Brad spews reverb
and feedback like an aural Pollock while Matt mocks a
shallow, handsome, glad-handing co-worker. It’s one of
two fast songs on the record. In the other, “I’m
Turning Now,” Dead Joe gets tubed before abruptly
cutting back and morphing into Sabbath playing
“Miserlou” just as the song’s protagonist, one of the
Straight World’s “good people” gets fed-up with life’s
many little indignities and runs a long red light to
make a well-deserved left turn.
Pissed Jeans take several turns on Hope for Men,
weaving brutality, humor and pathos throughout.
There’s the heavy swing of “A Bad Wind” and “Fantasy
World,” the vintage Lubricated Goat-like rhythm of
“Caught Licking Leather,” and the riff-less excursion
of “The Jogger.” “Scrapbooking” provides the “We Will
Fall” moment of the record. A sparse four note
descending bass line anchors this atmospheric exposé
of the dark underbelly of the world of crafts while
Matt rolls around under the piano, alternately
channeling Alan Vega and Sylvester the Cat. “I’ve
Still Got You (Ice Cream)” and “Secret Admirer” would
be hits if we could cast off the crushing yoke of the
Straight World, a shallow place where lightweight,
semi-clever, indie pop is considered cutting edge.
Fuck that. Hope for Men closes with “My Bed,” an
honest-to-God punk rock epic. Clocking in at 8
minutes, the first half wouldn’t sound out of place on
side 2 of My War; the second half sounds like a
rolling, no-holds-barred battle royal. By the time the
last squall of feedback dies away, it’s clear that the
last band standing in this bout is Pissed Jeans.
Pissed Jeans went deep cover in the Straight World
before sequestering themselves with Dan McKinney (of
the Original Sins!) in his geodesic studio
(appropriately enough, called Dan’s House) and emerged
with Hope for Men. This, their second album, their
first full-length on Sub Pop, is one of the best punk
albums in decades. Pissed Jeans play heavy and loose
post-hardcore sludge that follows the holy tradition
of the four noble Fs: feedtime, Flipper, ‘Flag, and
f**k it. Hope for Men delivers a piledriver to the
Straight World and a folding chair to the face of the
Indie Effete.
— Mark Arm, March ’07, West Seattle
Addendum: Since the recording of Hope for Men, Dave
Rosenstraus, who’d been converting cars to run on
vegetable oil as a sideline, left the band to pursue
diesel mechanic school and open his own shop.
Replacing Dave is old pal Randy Huth, former Pearls &
Brass guitarist. Coincidentally, everyone, except
drummer Sean, has known each other since middle school
and played in the Gate Crashers, the band that, after
an instrument swap, became Pissed Jeans.
J last night ..Good gig, possibly would have been a GREAT gig somewhere like the Lower Deck though.Fair dues to the U:Mack posse for another belter - your hard work is not unappreciated sirs, crappy turn out or not.Oak ruled.
