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Pissed Jeans

Hope for Men (2007)
Sub Pop Records

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Contributed by: GlassPipeMurder
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Published on July 6th 2007

“Pissed Jeans sounds like a cross-pollination of Black Flag and Flipper.” That was my initial thought after slipping in Hope for Men on my ride home from work the other night and bearing the screeching noise-guitars, heavy, chunky rhythms, and half-shouted vocals all the way back to my apartment. Back home, I surfed around finding out more about the band, eventually landing at Pitchfork Media, where to my dismay, the author had already employed the same Black Flag meets Flipper comparison that I was planning on pitching in my review. Life isn’t fair.

Pissed Jeans sounds like an angry band. The music is volatile, abrasive, and harsh, but it’s hard to find much anger at all in Pissed Jeans’ non-sequitur delivery of average college radio lyricism. The rough, pounding drone of “People Person” gives way to the aforesaid confident yet daft storytelling in mid-20s vernacular: "He’s got a big white smile / And the cotton shirt to match / He’ll talk about the weather on his digital watch / He forwards funny e-mails / Pics of a dog wearing a dress / Light bounces off his hair gel / He’s handsome I confess." Even when the words do take on a slant of negativity, the fussy whine gives off a vibe more amusing than angry, as in the fuzzy holler of “A Bad Wind”: "I feel a crummy draft / That’s making my throat sore / Keeping me up all night listening to myself snore / Makes getting out of bed a giant chore / Well I could go on, but I don’t want to be a bore."

Musically, Pissed Jeans is refreshing and attractive, an indispensable revival of styles that challenged the way people thought should be done with music 30 years ago. Lyrically, the band has nothing to prove, and seems to enjoy it that way. There is little palpable substance, though that’s not to say a level of wisdom can’t be extracted from the words being shouted, as the standout track “Caught Licking Leather” contains the Craig Finn match "Everyone gets busted sometimes / And it’s never any fun, to be the only one."

The album could have also done without the “artistic inclusion” of “The Jogger,” three minutes of drone and screech with no words, even though nonsensical lyrics miraculously appear in the liner notes. The gloomy crawl of “Scrapbooking” is comprised of minimalist piano and inebriated vocals about, you guessed it: the fine art of scrapbooking.

Pissed Jeans have managed to pound out a sizeable niche with the ability to attract congregations from both the punk and hardcore crowds, and the musical elite of indie rock and college radio. Hope for Men is an impressive blend of approaches, and for those who can stomach the noise, a benchmark for an important revival that’s just beginning to bloom.

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Anonymous (July 9, 2007)

fuck pitch fork. fuck pitch fork. fuck pitch fork.

Anonymous (July 9, 2007)

The lead singer of this band described their sound, using this statement to paraphrase:

"Mainly we just wanted to bludgeon the listener with dull, monotonous, droning rock music that just sucks."

I feel like all of his adjectives are dead-on, but for whatever reason I really like this record.

-K

Anonymous (July 9, 2007)

not to defend a fan of the shitty band, but seriously why does it have to be said?

who gives a shit about rancid aymore?

but yeah, that guy has bad taste in music and needs to lose his vagina.

- outofdrugs

good rekkerd, too.

BrandonSideleau (July 8, 2007)

come on man...listen to them......they aren't bad but it is definitely pop music.......I'm not cutting them down, but seriously it had to be said.

Anonymous (July 8, 2007)

I guess that Rancid is a pop band now according to this guy below me, thanks for the info buddy.

BrandonSideleau (July 8, 2007)

Well......if you like POP music then I guess of course you'd like Rancid better......since they are a pop band and all.

Anonymous (July 8, 2007)

Rancid > Pissed Jeans

BrandonSideleau (July 8, 2007)

You like the RX Bandits and Rancid.........no wonder you wouldn't like the Pissed Jeans.........your taste in music is shit!

R3venge_Therapy (July 7, 2007)

This record kinda blows. What the fuck is the 5th track anyway? One of the worst things I've ever heard recorded.

joeymagnet (July 6, 2007)

too much music, not enough noise.

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

also, i think the jogger is one of the most hilarious attacks on yuppies ever conceived.

- a a

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

This album, while not as great as their debut (which I would recommend anyone yet to have heard this band to pick up first) is the only thing keeping sub pop records anywhere close to relevant in the post grunge era of modern music.

The black flag/flipper comparisons are definately valid, though i think pissed jeans compare moreso to the likes of the early touch and go bands (jesus lizard, the fix, even a little big black) as well as contemporary "revivalists" like clockcleaner and the homostupids.

check out those two if you dig this. if you don't, get the fuck outta punk.

- amphetamine addiction

theyounginfluential (July 6, 2007)

GREAT album

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

Whole foods
the jogggggggggeeer

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

picked this up on yesterday but have yet to listen to it. I'm really looking forward to hearing it. these guys are amazing live.

- JD

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

I saw these guys open for Paint it Black last summer, and they upstaged Dr. Dan and Co. unlike anything I'd ever seen. I like their albums, but seeing them live is an experience.

Anonymous (July 6, 2007)

I've heard nothing but good things about this album. The description doesn't sound like my thing, but I still want to check check check it out.

BrandonSideleau (July 6, 2007)

My favorite album of the year so far.......with the amazing new BR just behind it.

Anonymous (July 5, 2007)

Too much noise, not enough music