Honeys is 36 minutes of an excellent band doing what it does best, approachability be damned.
Without sacrificing visceral force, Pissed Jeans allow themselves enough versatility to keep Honeys intense and interesting throughout, fashioning a loser's history of alt.rock that honors some of the most abrasive bands to get a deal post-Nevermind
Pissed Jeans are loud, they're angry; they're buoyant, they're funny; they're introspective and melancholic. They're totally original, and of their time. They might actually be geniuses.
The music matches his angst: the chaotic, grungy riffs sometimes charge and sometimes churn, the drums and bass relentlessly pummel, Korvette wails, grunts and spews. It’s distancing stuff, though also hookier than earlier LPs.
Honeys is an album that lives on the edge, man. Or at least grew up there.
The latest batch of sonic terror heralds more than just reminiscing by numbers, the band have clearly explored and expanded their tastes and ideas for what this new LP should be.
Honeys is a savvy, all-inclusive slab of disenchanted rage that doesn't hold back at any juncture.
Honeys may be just another rash, blustering effort, but for the first time there’s a faint hint of accessibility seeping through the cracks.
They have a complete command of their craft: The riffs surge and explode without ever devolving into free-noise abstraction, and drummer Sean McGuinness pounds his kit like it reneged on a bet.
The non-stop purging of masculinist bile can be exhausting, but that can and should be considered a measure of success, a sign that, despite whatever growth has been exhibited, success hasn’t changed Pissed Jeans.
Scathing and brilliant, this is a new level for Pissed Jeans, a band whose name begs us not to take them seriously, while their sound demands exactly the opposite.
While Honeys deals with the mundane and everyday it does so with such intense aggression, to almost theatrical levels, that it sounds as if it is the most important music in the world being committed to tape.
Like every Pissed Jeans album before it, Honeys is a unique balancing act of dumb and smart, as nimble as it is brash.
Honeys rocks in the perverse way only Pissed Jeans can, and like past releases, it’s a slab of flank steak in an indie world rife with tenderized veal.
Simply put, Honeys is a difficult listen, and it’s not a record you’ll return to often … That said, turn to Pissed Jeans’ Honeys on those mornings after when you need some commiseration for your hangover headache and nausea.
It's one of the best recent examples of a band burning the schematics and retooling the machine to meet their desired output, regardless of whether said equipment defies standard noise ordinances.
For the most part, ‘Honeys’ is a prime example of how the innovativeness of your chosen style matters not a jot, as long as you’re doing it with aplomb. And most importantly, having a bloody laugh.
With the absurdist vocals of Matt Korvette – generously, a sort of post-hardcore David Thomas figure – too often inaudible, the band’s uncathartic noise can still test patience as well as nerves.
This missed the mark with me
Favorite Song: Health Plan
Least Favorite Song: Something About Mrs. Johnson
I've always enjoyed this group as a chaotic mess of punk music bringing down the idea of male masculinity, and this album exhibits many of the great things about the hardcore punk outlet.
Favorite track: Health Plan
Vicious, raucous, and one hell of a good time, Honeys is exactly what I expected after hearing "Bathroom Laughter". One of the best indie punk releases of the year so far. So much fun, I may have pissed my jeans. Oh wait. Yep. Definitely did.
#18 | / | MAGNET |
#26 | / | Crack Magazine |
#28 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#32 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#64 | / | eMusic |