Pissed Jeans - Honeys
- Written by Jono Coote
Despite seeing their name on various flyers and hearing vague mentions of the band at shows and skate parks, it wasn't until recently that I got round to checking out Pissed Jeans. This despite the fact that the band have been spewing out their peculiar brand of sludgy, drawn out hardcore since the mid-2000's (and releasing it through grunge heavyweights Sub Pop since 2007); I must have been drunk or something …
Anyway, it meant that I put on this album with no real expectations of what to expect beyond some mixed reviews from friends. It turns out I should have really tuned in sooner, because judging by Honeys this band is capable of some serious aural destruction. Although technically hardcore music this is far from the thrashed-out-race-to-the-finish that typecasts the genre.
Rather the band’s roots can be traced back to the dirge-like but hypnotic sounds of Flipper or the LSD-soaked experimentation of the Butthole Surfers. However in the chugging Melvins-esque guitar work and the monotone of the vocals, the influence of the grunge bands that were so closely connected with Sub Pop throughout the '90s is clearly visible. It is this guitar riff-age which separates the band from many of their contemporaries within the scene, and creates a menacing soundscape which perfectly matches the comedown paranoia and social frustration of their lyrics.
From the very beginning it comes across as the band Charles Bukowski would have been in if he had been a hardcore kid from Pennsylvania; both the band and the author have a tendency to pinpoint the awful mundanity of everyday existence, and cause it to lodge deep in your brain only to surface at 3am when you have work the next morning. From the raging opening shot of ‘Bathroom Laughter’, through to the repressed rage of ‘Chain Worker’, to the furious blend of hardcore and stoner rock that closes the album ‘Teenage Adult’, Honeys is a must for anyone wanting to know what hardcore punk sounds like in the 21st century.
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