'80s rock with a modern twist

More than a decade since forming in Pennsylvania, noisy punks Pissed Jeans are finally heading our way this year. Fronted by Matt Korvette​, the band released fifth album Why Love Now earlier this year and proudly claim to hold the common objective of "bludgeoning the listener" with their unholy brand of rock. Signed to Sub Pop for second album Hope For Men in 2007 following 2005's debut album Shallow, they've stayed on the Sub Pop label and relish turning the blowtorch on modern society, particularly relationships and our growing addiction to appliances that seem to suck our attention spans shorter and shorter.

Pissed Jeans are heading to Australia. Credit:Ebru Yildiz

There's a handy New York Times description of Pissed Jeans' sound that suggests a throwback to the '80s and "memories of hard, slovenly noise, when punk bands realised they could slow down and let their music fall apart a bit" and that's not a bad thing. Think of Steve Albini's​ Shellac with a pinch of Mclusky, throw in some early X, particularly the brutal bass of the late Ian Rilen, and you're somewhere in the ballpark of what Korvette and his buddies, Brad Fry on guitar, bass player Randy Huth and drummer Sean McGuinness are cranking out. In a curious link to the '80s, punk and avante-garde artist Lydia Lunch produced the band's latest album, which Korvette admits left him wondering "how it was going to work out" despite their desire to "mix it up a bit" in the studio. "She was super into it," he said, "and constantly threatening to bend us over the bathtub. I'm not really sure what that entails, but I know she probably wasn't joking." Pissed Jeans play Sydney's Oxford Art Factory on December 6 and Melbourne's Corner Hotel on December 7. Tickets are now on sale.