Pissed Jeans have been doing this sort of thing for years now. 20, in fact. Releasing album after album of scuzzy, undiluted hardcore punk – the sixth in that noble line, Half Divorced came out only last month via Sub Pop – and then going on to crank up that furious sound even further in what has become a series of incendiary live performances.
And tonight’s show in Leeds is absolutely no exception in that regard. It’s the last night of this short tour of the UK and Pissed Jeans aren’t going to be hanging around. Pennsylvania is calling. But before they go west, the quartet of Matt Korvette (vocals), Bradley Fry (guitar), Randy Huth (bass), and Sean McGuinness (drums) make sure they press their collective pedal firmly onto the Pissed Jeans’ metal one more time.
A couple of numbers in and Matt Korvette has already ditched his jacket and gone full-on detective lieutenant John McClane Sr. in his white vest. By the time that Pissed Jeans have careened through another half dozen tunes at breakneck speed and maximum revolutions they have reached ‘Junktime’ – one of a generous handful of songs taken from their brilliant new album – and as Korvette is by now howling out the line “as the flames floated over my block like Santa Claus” you could quite easily be led into believing that it was actually Christmas Eve on the set of Die Hard.
It is relentless and so concentrated is the energy that the four men create they emerge from this uncontainable vortex of sound as one being, a singular behemoth of a band at the very top of their game. The sludge-metal of ‘Cafeteria Food’ decelerates the momentum ever so slightly and only temporarily before Pissed Jeans again squeeze the sonic throttle and once more blast off into the raging firmament. 15 or 16 songs down the line, including one quick victory lap encore, and they are gone, still a good five minutes shy of the hour mark. But, hell, that really doesn’t matter because this fearsome, full-blown set has given us all more than enough already. All good clean riotous fun.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos of Pissed Jeans at Brudenell Social Club
