Dear Friends,
When I got in the car after watching a few songs by L.A.’s CNTS last night, Liam said, “We just got our shit handed to us.” He wasn’t allowed to go back in after we played (stupid, lame, shitty Yucca) so I just watched a couple songs while he waited in the car, but they were loud enough for him to hear them clearly.
I didn’t really feel like we got our shit handed to us or our dicks knocked in the dirt, but CNTS were on fire, and they were fucking great. When you have been out for five weeks playing shows almost every night, you get super fucking tight, and it showed. I really hope to get to see them again.
I had a blast playing. We brought our A-/B+ game, I thought. I definitely felt pretty good about it and after jamming four days in a row, I had a little bit of that limberness and dexterity that has been lacking over the last few years of not having regular practices and such.
It was great to see a handful of people that I really love. Some of you even read this blog and it was definitely nice to see you. One faithful ergonomic mischief reader was there, and it was awesome to see a little light shining in them after what has had to have been a very, very difficult last six months. It made my heart feel really good.
The universe takes care of us sometimes.
It was fun to play with Shovel, too, but I didn’t get to watch them. Again, stupid Yucca. I really don’t want to play there anymore, and it wouldn’t make me sad to never go there again, but alas, I will be there at least a couple more times, I’m sure. I don’t know why they changed their policy.
*****
Three days to go of summer camp.
*****
A week before we head to Maine.
*****
At first listen, I thought to myself, “These guys listen to a lot of Jesus Lizard.”
Was I correct in this assumption? No.
Back in 2014, I got a chance to interview the singer of Pissed Jeans, Matt Korvette, before they came to town to play a show at the Crescent Ballroom. I asked him about being compared to the Jesus Lizard and his answer surprised me. According to Korvette, no one in Pissed Jeans owned a Jesus Lizard record.
15 years later, though, I don’t hear their album King of Jeans in quite the same manner that I did back in 2009 when it came out. I thought they sounded like the Lizard quite a bit and I had conversations about it with my buddy, Alex, who produced the record for the Allentown, PA band. Now, I just hear a great, heavy, noisy band doing their thing.
Pissed Jeans are loud and abrasive and use a certain type of distortion on the guitar and bass that is reminiscent of Jesus Lizard, for sure, but so many of the good noisy bands who have come out in the 21st century, ape the Lizard, too. Why wouldn’t you?
King of Jeans stands on its own merit, though.
I like coming back to this one here and there because it has great energy. I mean, this is one of my favorite genres to listen to, but I think what picked up on about Pissed Jeans that made me want to start favorably comparing to other bands I love is the way they attack a song. King of Jeans is basically a workshop on how to attack a song.
Some bands do this better than others. Some bands make love to a song, and that’s great, but for me, I like a band to look a song square in the eye and say, “let’s fuck some shit up.”
Case in point, “Lip Ring” is just a banger. It’s well into the CD and track one on side B, but it could have easily been the opener or the cleanup hitter (see my baseball theory about albums from a few blogs ago if you care – or dare). It’s three minutes of heart racing and brain bracing. Don’t ask me what Korvette is singing about, but it really doesn’t matter. His lyrics just sound cool.
This is something I appreciate about Pissed Jeans, actually. I could look up the lyrics, but why do I need to? Korvette uses his voice like another instrument, and I like it when bands do that. I do that a lot myself. Often, for me, the words don’t have a ton of meaning, but I like the way they sound in concert with the bass, drums, and guitar.
“Dominate Yourself” is another on that is deep in the record that I like a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I like the early part of the record, too, but when there are no weak moments, I just tend to call’em like I see them.
King of Jeans is one of those records that might make you feel like you need a shower. Kind of a good, gritty film that makes you feel dirty after watching, King of Jeans has that same kind of impact and affect. I suggest turning it way up. Blow your hair back a bit.
It seems like a blink since I heard from Alex about Pissed Jeans. I can’t believe it’s been 15 years. Where does time go. I thought for sure there would be other opportunities to see them, but it’s never come up again.
Or I just couldn’t make it. I can’t remember.
The show was incredible, though. I remember being blown away by both opening bands, Gay Kiss and Lenguas Largas, too. Pissed Jeans were a sight and sound to behold in 2009. I definitely need to check out their new record, HalfDivorced. Maybe it will make the list later in the year.
*****
See you tomorrow.
I asked for a man wearing pantyhose over his head singing a punk rock song. This is what AI gave me. Fail, AI.
Fail.
Comments