Pennsylvania punks Pissed Jeans aren’t just a bunch of pretty faces – they really, really know their beer. I found this out when drinking with them ahead of their Camden show last summer (review). Then, members Sean McGuinness (drums) and Randy Huth (bass) waxed eloquently about some of their favourite craft ales from back home – turns out that Philadelphia is quite the magnet for terrific, delicious booze.
When I saw them coming back to Blighty, for a show in my hometown of Brighton, I figured: get them out again, but this time bring a microphone. Actually taste some beers, like I did with Ed Harcourt earlier this year. So that’s what happened, on the night of August 13th, 2014: we met, we drank, we made notes, and I woke up with my face in the toilet.
Hopefully Randy and Sean made it through to Thursday with less sickness, more slickness, than this pitiful excuse for a ‘journalist’, whose commitment to the concept saw him indulge in, ooh, some more beers. On a school night. Tsk.
Being in Brighton, I figured it was only right to sample some of the local brews. Dark Star Brewing Co is based in Partridge Green, just north of Brighton. The brewery owns the Evening Star pub in town, but for our drinking session we stopped at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, home to a range of lovely drinks and host to a number of excellent rock shows (also, it’s only a five-minute step from The Haunt, where Pissed Jeans were playing). Hepworth & Co is based in Horsham, West Sussex, and the Bellerose beer is from Northern France. Gotta have a curveball.
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Pissed Jeans, ‘Romanticize Me’, from the album ‘Honeys’ (2013)
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Beer number one: Dark Star American Pale Ale
Randy: I’m getting a lot of citrus off the nose.
Sean: I drank mine already.
Randy: It’s delicious. I don’t know whether there’s something about the water down here that plays a part.
Sean: It’s really light, and you can tell it’s going to go down really smooth. There’s a decent hop characteristic up front, but it kind of mellows out the back. It’s a well-balanced beer, and you get a little chalkiness right before you swallow it. This is an exceptionally well-made interpretation of an American beer.
Randy: I concur.
Sean: If this was a band, it’s a Built To Spill. It kicks in, kicks out, and you feel better for it – it’s brightened your day. You can stick with it for a little bit, and not feel fatigued by the material. I wouldn’t get bored, having many of these. I can rock a two-hour session of Built To Spill, and I could definitely go for more of these.
Randy: I could whack 10 of these.
Sean: Yeah, I could do 10. But out of 10? I’d give it a strong seven. I’m not just going to drink one of these. This is like chasing the dragon, like, f*ck it, give me another. I gotta get more of this in me. Totally delicious.
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Beer number two: Hepworth Prospect, Organic Pale Ale
Randy: This is sweet, with almost a tea nose on it. It’s not hoppy at all, to me. The American-style Pale was really hopped-up, but this is pretty grassy.
Sean: You get less of that sulphur. It’s a little appley.
Randy: I get herbs, just not a lot of hops, at all. Do a lot of beers still use isinglass? This beer says it’s vegan.
Sean: A lot of beers still do. Like, it’s the best way to clarify beer. I think this beer is really good, but it doesn’t speak to me, personally.
Randy: Between this and the one before, I’d be going for the one before. This is a good barbeque beer though.
Sean: It lacks depth. It sort of just disappears down the back end. I get a lot of apple, and a little bit of corn. It kind of plateaus, but could go higher. On the surface it’s nice.
Sean: If this was a band, it’d be one that begins with a punch but just kind of misses. It’d be that band called Temples, from Britain. On the surface, they’re exceptionally good. They’ve got one great song, with an impeccable riff. It’s insanely refreshing at first – but get deeper, and you realise there’s not a lot going on that hasn’t been done before. It leads with the eyes, but you get it undressed and it’s missing a foot. ‘Oh, that’s weird.’
Randy: It’s a very Pissed Jeans beer, this. I’d give it a five out of 10. I don’t think five is bad, though. Like we said, it’s a barbeque beer.
Sean: It just doesn’t have much substance.
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Beer number three: Bellerose Biere Blonde Extra
Sean: Straight away, if I was to compare this to a band, it’d be Enon. Y’ever listen to an Enon record? They sound like 10 different bands, they never really made up their mind as to what sort of band they wanted to be. Which is fine, and they did it well. Maybe there’s a better example, but when you hear one of their albums, it’s like a compilation of lots of different bands. They didn’t ever commit to one direction – and this 6.5 percent, French-made, Belgian-style blonde beer, with a little spice, a little bubblegum, a little yeast… It’s dry and refreshing, but I want it to make up its mind a little more. I want it to declare itself. I want it to commit. This is a little bit of everything. It’s actually pretty good though, and I’d probably give it a five. A solid five.
Randy: I don’t know how in-depth I can get on this. I know I like it more, the more I drink it. I find the nose a bit confusing – I’m getting skunky, wet furs. It’s weird. I drink it more, and it becomes sweeter, and drier. I would drink it, and I’d give it a five, too.
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Beer number four: Dark Star Espresso, blended with Arabica coffee beans
Randy: This is delicious. It’s more coffee than it is beer. I don’t think I’ve ever had a beer that is this coffee-like.
Sean: Unlike the last one, this totally knows what it wants to be. It’s bitter, it’s insanely coffee-like.
Randy: I like how it’s so bitter. I’ve never had a beer like this. I could definitely drink a few of these.
Sean: I don’t know if I could. It’s not heavy, or too overwhelming, but it’s unique. Everything is there for a reason. I’m hesitant to really class it as any particular style, as it’s not a beer I can naturally gravitate towards, but at 4.2 percent, this might be the best beer we’ve had today. This might be my favourite. It’s crazy, it’s super raw, I’ve never had a beer like this.
Randy: It’s big and rich and roasty, with chocolaty tones.
Sean: This might be like a Devo beer, where you’re not supposed to properly understand it, or where it’s coming from. But that band, these brewers, they know exactly what they’re doing. The recipe is locked in, and they know what they’re trying to present. You might get it, or hate it, or love it – it doesn’t matter, because they achieved what they set out to do. I am totally getting it. Shit, this is an ‘Are We Not Men?’ beer. Ask this beer, ‘Is this all you’ve got?’ and it’d answer: ‘Yes.’ But you’d be like, ‘I feel you, man.’ This is a naked-ass beer, man. It’s like: take me or leave me. And I’m taking it. Totally great beer. This is a good eight and a half out of 10.
Randy: I’d give this at least an eight. There are no perfect beers, but this is pretty close. I also feel the first Dark Star we had was on par.
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As imbibed with Mike Diver
Band photo: Sasha Morgan (bar snaps courtesy of the writer’s shaky iPhone)
Pissed Jeans (online) play some shows. You should see them. They are good.
August
15th– Institute, Birmingham
16th– Birthdays, London
Sub Pop will reissue (a remastered version of) the band’s debut album, ‘Shallow’, on October 7th.
Thanks to all at Sticky Mike's Frog Bar for having us stink up the bar for an hour.
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