Pissed Jeans — Shallow
••– Lumbering Pennsylvania grunge–punk that's equally barbaric and apathetic. 
Location: Allentown, PA
Album release: June 2005 / 7 Oct. 2014
Recorded: Feb. 2005 in Center Valley, PA.
Record Label: Parts Unknown / Sub Pop Records
Catalog: No SP1109
Duration: 39:09
Tracks:
01 I'm Sick 2:23
02 Boring Girls 3:36
03 Ugly Twin (I've Got) 7:23
04 Ashamed of My Cum 1:51
05 Closet Marine 4:18
06 I Broke My Own Heart 4:38
07 Little Sorrell 2:48
08 Wachovia 5:48
Single:
09 Throbbing Organ 2:37
10 Night Minutes 3:47
℗ 2014 Sub Pop Records
≡ Recorded at — Dan's House Studio
Credits:
≡ Artwork — Ron Regé Jr.
≡ Grand Piano — Dan McKinney (tracks: A3)
≡ Layout — Ben West (2)
≡ Performer — Bradley Fry, Dave Rosenstraus, Matt Korvette, Tim Wynarczuk
≡ Recorded by — Dan McKinney
REVIEW
BY LUKE CARTLEDGE, 30 SEPTEMBER 2014, 11:30 BST; SCORE: 8/10
••– Noisy Pennsylvanians Pissed Jeans are the kind of band who could only really be signed to Sub Pop. Their unhinged, uncensored brand of punk fits perfectly into the Seattle label’s lineage, and as a band who clearly (and refreshingly) pay no heed to trends, it’s difficult to imagine where else they could find such a perfect home. This remastered version of Shallow, their debut LP, sounds like such a prime Sub Pop classic that it’s almost hard to believe that it was released in 2007 rather than 1991.
••– One of the essential keys to Pissed Jeans’ success is that, quite clearly, they do not take themselves too seriously. This allows them to play around with their punk, giving them license to career off into loping, screeching noise jams (“Wachovia”), write two–minute garage–rock vignettes with names like “Ashamed of My Cum” and, of course, call themselves Pissed Jeans. Yet this four–piece are more than an extended fratty in–joke set to music.
••– Firstly, you have to consider the riffs. In between peals of feedback and the Black Francis–esque howls of singer Matt Korvette, the band constantly gather themselves around cyclical, chugging motifs that lodge themselves into your ears and refuse to budge. The bassline on “I Broke My Own Heart”, the enormous chorus of “Closet Marine”; everywhere you turn on Shallow, Pissed Jeans slap you in the face with a fantastic riff.
••– Then, we have the rhythm section. The bass and drums hear sound massive, perfectly suited to the sparse, frill–less production, which allows them to breathe. While never sounding “virtuosic” in any traditional sense, Pissed Jeans do have a certain undeniable power, and this is mostly thanks to the solidity of Sean McGuinness and Randy Huth.
••– It’s easy to understand why this album went out of print, and even easier to understand why now is the perfect time for its reissue. Due to its crassness and indifference to fashion, a record like this is pretty difficult to market to all but the most avid devotees of Sub Pop and American punk. Yet since bands like Yuck, Metz and Cheatahs made ‘90s alt–rock fashionable again, people have started paying attention to Sub Pop again. So what better time to re–release this excellent debut from the most Sub Pop of Sub Pop bands? ••– http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/
Also:
By Jason Heller; October 6, 2014; Score: 7.8
••– http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19669-pissed-jeans-shallow/
By Doug Mosurock
••– http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2331
Tom McKibbin; Tuesday, 26 August 2014
••– http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/p/pissed-jeans-shallow-cd-lp-dd-reissue-2014/
Label: https://www.subpop.com/
Biography
••– As a working–class foursome from Allentown, Pennsylvania (the town that inspired the Billy Joel song "Allentown"), Pissed Jeans vent their frustrations through a bludgeoning, midtempo grunge punk sound focused on sexual depression and factory–town hopelessness, all doused in a heavy coat of sarcasm and apathy. On a sweltering August night in 2003, the Gatecrashers were driving between Los Angeles and San Francisco while rocking out to World Wrestling Federation: The Music, Vol. 2. During the peak of the sweaty singalong they realized they were onto something special and decided it would be fun to form a side project where they sang songs in the vein of the Whittingtons' "I'm Young, Dumb and Full of Cum," the idea being that everyone would swap instruments and create music for meatheads. Enveloped by the discomforting mood provided by the car's broken air conditioner, they reasoned that the vibe of the music should be like the oppressive heat inside the vehicle — overwhelming and designed to drain the listener's energy.
© Pissed Jeans photographed by Shawn Brackbill
••– With influences ranging from early–'80s punk to '90s hardcore, the members of the Gatecrashers (Matt Korvette, Bradley Fry, Dave Rosenstrauss, and Tim) started penning songs for a demo under the name Unrequited Hard–On. Soon after, they changed their name to Pissed Jeans and recorded a second demo with the addition of a new song, "Night Minutes." After concocting a new batch of woeful anti–authoritative material, they released a 7" titled Throbbing Organ and their first LP, Shallow, on Parts Unknown (later remastered and reissued by Sub Pop Records in 2014). Shallow branched off from the sounds of Flipper and Stick Men with Rayguns into more sludgy and droning territory. After the departure of drummer Tim, they recruited Sean McGuinness to take over, and the band signed to iconic grunge label Sub Pop.
••– Despite their new status, the bandmembers kept their day jobs. Guitarist Fry continued working in account management, bassist Rosenstrauss converted cars to run on biodiesel, and frontman Korvette worked as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. The blue–collar way of life fueled the lyrical fire for a 7" released on June 6, 2006, called I Don't Need Smoke to Make Myself Disappear, an angry ditty about working in a restaurant and despising the patrons. The following year, Pissed Jeans released their second full–length, the heavy plodding Hope for Men for Sub Pop, while remaining in their hometown. After touring and making a video for "I've Got You Ice Cream," the group returned with King of Jeans in 2009. A fourth album, Honeys, arrived in 2013.
Discography:
2005 Shallow Sub Pop
2007 Hope for Men Sub Pop
2009 King of Jeans Sub Pop
2013 Honeys Sub Pop
2014 Pissed Jeans Sub Pop
_____________________________________________________________
••– Lumbering Pennsylvania grunge–punk that's equally barbaric and apathetic.
Location: Allentown, PA
Album release: June 2005 / 7 Oct. 2014
Recorded: Feb. 2005 in Center Valley, PA.
Record Label: Parts Unknown / Sub Pop Records
Catalog: No SP1109
Duration: 39:09
Tracks:
01 I'm Sick 2:23
02 Boring Girls 3:36
03 Ugly Twin (I've Got) 7:23
04 Ashamed of My Cum 1:51
05 Closet Marine 4:18
06 I Broke My Own Heart 4:38
07 Little Sorrell 2:48
08 Wachovia 5:48
Single:
09 Throbbing Organ 2:37
10 Night Minutes 3:47
℗ 2014 Sub Pop Records
≡ Recorded at — Dan's House Studio
Credits:
≡ Artwork — Ron Regé Jr.
≡ Grand Piano — Dan McKinney (tracks: A3)
≡ Layout — Ben West (2)
≡ Performer — Bradley Fry, Dave Rosenstraus, Matt Korvette, Tim Wynarczuk
≡ Recorded by — Dan McKinney
REVIEW
BY LUKE CARTLEDGE, 30 SEPTEMBER 2014, 11:30 BST; SCORE: 8/10
••– Noisy Pennsylvanians Pissed Jeans are the kind of band who could only really be signed to Sub Pop. Their unhinged, uncensored brand of punk fits perfectly into the Seattle label’s lineage, and as a band who clearly (and refreshingly) pay no heed to trends, it’s difficult to imagine where else they could find such a perfect home. This remastered version of Shallow, their debut LP, sounds like such a prime Sub Pop classic that it’s almost hard to believe that it was released in 2007 rather than 1991.
••– One of the essential keys to Pissed Jeans’ success is that, quite clearly, they do not take themselves too seriously. This allows them to play around with their punk, giving them license to career off into loping, screeching noise jams (“Wachovia”), write two–minute garage–rock vignettes with names like “Ashamed of My Cum” and, of course, call themselves Pissed Jeans. Yet this four–piece are more than an extended fratty in–joke set to music.
••– Firstly, you have to consider the riffs. In between peals of feedback and the Black Francis–esque howls of singer Matt Korvette, the band constantly gather themselves around cyclical, chugging motifs that lodge themselves into your ears and refuse to budge. The bassline on “I Broke My Own Heart”, the enormous chorus of “Closet Marine”; everywhere you turn on Shallow, Pissed Jeans slap you in the face with a fantastic riff.
••– Then, we have the rhythm section. The bass and drums hear sound massive, perfectly suited to the sparse, frill–less production, which allows them to breathe. While never sounding “virtuosic” in any traditional sense, Pissed Jeans do have a certain undeniable power, and this is mostly thanks to the solidity of Sean McGuinness and Randy Huth.
••– It’s easy to understand why this album went out of print, and even easier to understand why now is the perfect time for its reissue. Due to its crassness and indifference to fashion, a record like this is pretty difficult to market to all but the most avid devotees of Sub Pop and American punk. Yet since bands like Yuck, Metz and Cheatahs made ‘90s alt–rock fashionable again, people have started paying attention to Sub Pop again. So what better time to re–release this excellent debut from the most Sub Pop of Sub Pop bands? ••– http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/
Also:
By Jason Heller; October 6, 2014; Score: 7.8
••– http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19669-pissed-jeans-shallow/
By Doug Mosurock
••– http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2331
Tom McKibbin; Tuesday, 26 August 2014
••– http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/p/pissed-jeans-shallow-cd-lp-dd-reissue-2014/
Label: https://www.subpop.com/
Biography
••– As a working–class foursome from Allentown, Pennsylvania (the town that inspired the Billy Joel song "Allentown"), Pissed Jeans vent their frustrations through a bludgeoning, midtempo grunge punk sound focused on sexual depression and factory–town hopelessness, all doused in a heavy coat of sarcasm and apathy. On a sweltering August night in 2003, the Gatecrashers were driving between Los Angeles and San Francisco while rocking out to World Wrestling Federation: The Music, Vol. 2. During the peak of the sweaty singalong they realized they were onto something special and decided it would be fun to form a side project where they sang songs in the vein of the Whittingtons' "I'm Young, Dumb and Full of Cum," the idea being that everyone would swap instruments and create music for meatheads. Enveloped by the discomforting mood provided by the car's broken air conditioner, they reasoned that the vibe of the music should be like the oppressive heat inside the vehicle — overwhelming and designed to drain the listener's energy.
••– With influences ranging from early–'80s punk to '90s hardcore, the members of the Gatecrashers (Matt Korvette, Bradley Fry, Dave Rosenstrauss, and Tim) started penning songs for a demo under the name Unrequited Hard–On. Soon after, they changed their name to Pissed Jeans and recorded a second demo with the addition of a new song, "Night Minutes." After concocting a new batch of woeful anti–authoritative material, they released a 7" titled Throbbing Organ and their first LP, Shallow, on Parts Unknown (later remastered and reissued by Sub Pop Records in 2014). Shallow branched off from the sounds of Flipper and Stick Men with Rayguns into more sludgy and droning territory. After the departure of drummer Tim, they recruited Sean McGuinness to take over, and the band signed to iconic grunge label Sub Pop.
••– Despite their new status, the bandmembers kept their day jobs. Guitarist Fry continued working in account management, bassist Rosenstrauss converted cars to run on biodiesel, and frontman Korvette worked as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. The blue–collar way of life fueled the lyrical fire for a 7" released on June 6, 2006, called I Don't Need Smoke to Make Myself Disappear, an angry ditty about working in a restaurant and despising the patrons. The following year, Pissed Jeans released their second full–length, the heavy plodding Hope for Men for Sub Pop, while remaining in their hometown. After touring and making a video for "I've Got You Ice Cream," the group returned with King of Jeans in 2009. A fourth album, Honeys, arrived in 2013.
Discography:
2005 Shallow Sub Pop
2007 Hope for Men Sub Pop
2009 King of Jeans Sub Pop
2013 Honeys Sub Pop
2014 Pissed Jeans Sub Pop
_____________________________________________________________