‘straight forward, menacing and in your face‘ – Niall McGuirk on Pissed Jeans remastered debut LP, Shallow This is a remastered version of Pissed Jeans‘ debut album which had its first airing to the public in 2005. It was released then on Parts Unknown label and has long been out of print. It was the introduction Sub Pop had to the band so they want to share it with you (and keep thoise ebay prices down).
With a name like Pissed Jeans you would never expect them to appear in the pages of a teen magazine if such a thing exists anymore. Direct and confrontational and not in the mood of being your friend. Imagine if No Age decided to go all Vic and Bob and sing in a club style, except it is the club style of the Butthole Surfers? If you can then you’re getting close to this sound. If that interests you then mix in some garage, some Jesus and Mary Chain and let me know what you think.
It’s straight forward, menacing and in your face. No chance of lyrics being lost in translation as Pissed Jeans call it how they see it. Whether hating their ‘Ugly Twin’ or wanting to befriend ‘Boring Girls’ they are screaming about it. Pissed jeans want to effect an emotion, be that pro or anti their raw and straight forward manifesto. I am in two minds when reading their lyrics. Do I play along and say “words can have a powerful meaning but when singing about semen they are pointless” or alternatively “they ain’t afraid to sing as they they speak, in the gutter”? But then those pesky kids confound me and sing a song about a horse, not just any horse though. ‘Little Sorrel’ was the horse of Confederate Hero Thomas Stonewall jackson except the story is that the horse was captured and put on public show. Even when on its ying feet it was raised to the air as a sign of resistance. the world still is cruel to animals and yet strangely they hold a place dear to our hearts. Also with ‘Closet Marine’ we get the lines “I pledge to Uncle Sam, Ashamed of Who I am” – ‘political’ with a very small p (or in Pisssed Jeans’ case it’d have to be a mini pee). During ‘Closet Marine ‘it seems like there’s three songs going on at times being led by a manic drum sound. It’s some racket behind those words.
And that’s the way the record ebbs and flows. Huge drum sound with cymbals everywhere, fuzzed up guitars, crazy bass and vocals in and out of the mix screaming bizarre combinations of words. Strangely infectious though.
