Pissed Jeans: Don't Need Smoke To Make Myself Disappear

It seems apt that in the same week Frank Black tentatively releases his new solo album, Pissed Jeans drop this slab of unrestrained paranoia onto the proverbial face of music. With the former Pixies’ front man settled in a mellower region of rock, it is with this release Pissed Jeans may, may, just prove to be perfect remedy to any Pixie cravings.

With a kick drum thump and a squall, lead singer Matt Korvette groans “Don’t need smoke to make myself disappear/I’ll just sit here” while the twisted riffing of Bradley Fry swerves wearily through the lurching bass of Dave Rosenstraus creating an atmosphere akin to any number of ancient Italian horror films. The band's metal influences overtake with Fry's guitar lines morphing into sludgy hammerfists and Korvette doing his best to match the growl of such luminaries as Will Rahmer. Full of heartache and the barest of animalistic emotion, the single represents a matured Pissed Jeans, a band determined to be heard and taken seriously in the heavy rock arena.

The B-side 'Love Clown’ continues in much the same ilk, refuting critics' claims that they were in fact "semi-serious" with their 2005 debut Shallow. On the b-side, Korvette possesses the snarling energy reminiscent of the likes of Ian MacKaye and Steve Albini. And while the chances of them emulating the accomplishments of their esteemed comparisons remains unlikely, it is by no means impossible if this single is anything to go by.

Korvette, in an interview last year, said he “wanted to create music to bludgeon the listener”. He no longer needs to want, this is it. And by golly, what a good bludgeoning it is.