Despite its deliciously sweet taste and numerous applications, (each more yummy than the last), too much honey will make you feel disgusting. Therefore, it follows that trying to ingest numerous types of honey in a short space of time, say, 35 minutes, will make you feel nauseous, sticky and generally deathly. In this respect, Pissed Jeans have got the title of their fourth release, Honeys, spot on; this album should make you want to take a shower, but you’ll be reluctant, as wallowing in saccharine goo does have an oddly gripping appeal; excess in excelsis.

A sleazy slice of garage rock-influenced hardcore, Honeys makes a good case that, when done right, punk rock is still as nasty, gritty and shocking as when it first reared its ugly, ugly head in the late 70s. Guitars swamped in fuzz, walls of feedback, and drums that could’ve easily been recorded in a garage, the sound on this album is reminiscent of classic hardcore acts like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. Tracks like ‘Bathroom Laughter’ and ‘Vain in Costume’ are so full of raw aggression and drive that you end up fearing for your own safety as they chug through, carried by reverberated manic vocals of Bradley Fry, who’s guttural tinge evokes the ghosts of Roky Erikson and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

If you want all the excitement of blood/sick stains on your sofa, but don’t want the mess, then Pissed Jeans are the guys to call; Honeys is an album of scummy punk rock, nothing more, nothing less.

8/10

Label: Sub Pop

Words: George Wright