Pissed Jeans know how to subvert your expectations. The name is inherently ridiculous, but the Pennsylvania quartet’s music is anything but —sure it’s over the top and sometimes silly, but it’s also strangely heartfelt, filled with real depth that roils just under the surface.
The band has been putting out scuzzy Jesus Lizard-esque hardcore for twenty years now, and on Half Divorced, they sound as fresh, exciting and relevant as ever. The album is a live wire collection of songs, and it feels as much an art project as it does a ripping rock album. The band has a way of drawing you in through their monstrous musical abilities before locking in with their wry lyrics, always teetering between absurdity and hard truths. With their ability to bring the excitement of a live show into your headphones, listening to Pissed Jeans is an absolutely visceral experience.
Half Divorced stands out somewhat from the rest of the Pissed Jeans oeuvre because of the no nonsense approach to the song’s arrangements. There are none of the dirge-y, plodding, Flipper-inspired histrionics that made up some of their past output. This album is lean and mean and gets right to business, as Matt Korvette and crew balance their self-deprecation with blistering anger about the state of the world. “Killing the Wrong People” holds up a mirror to the most egregious of society's ills, while a song like “Everywhere Is Bad” is a tongue-in-cheek effort detailing how bad each city on earth (and even a few planets) can be, all the while keeping their foot firmly planted on the proverbial musical gas pedal. The riffs blaze, the drums are consistently on fire and Korvette’s snarl doesn’t stop for a second.
Yes they’re called Pissed Jeans and yes they can be hilarious, but Half Divorced goes harder than most contemporary rock albums and it’s mostly because the band believes — seriously — in what they’re doing. This is the sound of having grown up seeing first hand the complexities of adulthood and still trying to keep your optimism intact. It’s fast, furious, funny, sad and above all real. There are times in your life when you may feel like there’s nothing you can do about the world, your job, your relationships — Half Divorced lets you know that you’re never really alone in the fight.