A couple of weeks back I bought about three 7"s for the first time in at least a year, which is weird for me because singles are my favorite format; short, sweet and it doesn't feel like your cheating yourself out of hearing the rest of the record every time you drop the needle back at the beginning of the same song over and over again.
Anyways, I bought two Big Black reissued 7"s and the one this review is about:
Pissed Jeans - Your Life Is Worth.
Now according to the band, this is not any teaser for an upcoming release, but instead they just wrote two of their best songs and wanted them to be released.
Let me start off by saying this single is great. It floats many echoes of Flipper and other damaged Bay Area punk/stoner rock up to the surface. The first track is undeniably my favorite song Pissed Jeans have written, and that track is titled "Sam Kinison Woman". Now, just like every Pissed Jeans record, the lyrics are superb and funny without being overtly-goofy and kitsch. The humor of the Jeans is far removed from that of the horseshit-vortex/retard/juggalo friendly realm of anything Mike Patton has ever done. The vocals haven't switched up much on this 7" but the instrumentals have taken a left hand turn from their last record "King Of Jeans" and onto 53rd and 3rd, if you catch my drift. They've stripped back the straight forward "Nevermind" styled distortion a bit and zoned in a little more for a crunch toned guitar and a rumbling 70's minimalist/prog./post-punk bass sound. Bradley has flashed a very small amount of dance punk guitar parts (if you will) throughout "Sam Kinison Woman". Sean McGuinness (drummer) kills it again on this track. Dude has a very fluid style behind the skins and his contribution to Pissed Jeans since his arrival on the "Hope For Men" LP has started to fit like a glove, and at this point that glove has become un removable from the sweaty hand it holds together so tightly.
The second track, "L Word" is Pissed Jeans having fun with themselves and generally being dorks. It's similar to watching your friend everyone hates troll some poser "street" "punk" into submission. It rules. L Word is were the Flipper and Brainbombs comparisons truly come in for me. Feedback and slow dirge-punk ravage through side B like a homeless Vietnam vet smashed off Four Loko stumbling through an American Eagle clothing store. While the lyrics "Love is a word I use to describe....the way I feel inside" ring through out the track like a crying addict might sound like whilst trying to convince his peers at an N.A. meeting of his sincerity. Of course, the song sounds like it's all in good fun, but then again, what I love about this band is their "Jokes are meant to be taken seriously" attitude towards song writing. Now, I'm not really to into guitar solos like some doofs are, but the ones displayed here are all in very good taste and have warranted multiple listens from me the day I bought it. After singer Matt Korvette’s short list of things he loves (which includes a good surprise, pie, and the Flyers) the song is cut out and ends abruptly during a very distinct "Love Canal" tribute vocal part.
If the band is just putting us fans off with the whole "there is no new record, we just wanted to release a 45" bit, and if this is any indication of what the Jeans will be wetting themselves with for their 3rd LP, we are in for one AMAZING fucking record.
For fans of Flipper, Black Sabbath, Brainbombs, Black Flag, The Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Butthole Surfers, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, No Trend, Wipers, the Stooges...........you'll get a boner.
Copies are available at Zia Records. You can waste your $5 at McDonalds today and shit yourself 20 minutes later prematurely, or you can SPEND your $5 on "Your Life Is Worth" and shit yourself with joy repeatedly for the rest of your life. The choice is yours, don’t make the wrong one.
