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Review: 'Pissed Jeans / Fawn Spots / Irk'
'Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, 16th August 2015'   


-  Genre: 'Rock'

Our Rating:
After a long time away from the UK, Pissed Jeans have been making up for lost time, with this being their third outing in two years, and their second time in Leeds. Take that, London!

They’re supported by a brace of top-quality – but very different – regional purveyors of noisy guitar music, in the form of Irk and Fawn Spots. While the former may be relatively new to the scene, they’ve got some firepower: a trio consisting of drums, bass and vocals, they kick out a serious racket. The howling, anguished vocals are half-buried beneath an assault that’ by turns churning and choppy and evokes Fugazi. It’d be a safe bet that these guys have a fair stash of Jesus Lizard, Shellac and Blacklisters releases in their collections – or on their Spotify lists, whatever the kids are doing these days. Strong.

Fawn Spots seem to have become the regional support act of choice for bookers of a range of name alternative touring bands. A brief scan of my gig-diary tells me this is the fifth time I’ve seen them this year. Having been rather static supporting A Place to Bury Strangers in this same venue back in April, and absolutely on fire at the Brudenell supporting labelmates The Saints the following month, they were on blinding form on this outing. The clear sound meant it was possible to differentiate between Jonathan Meager’s squalling treble frenzy and the taut, nagging, sinewy fretwork of Oliver Grabowski, while the rhythm section held it together while maintaining a frenetic pace. In short, they were as good as they were sweaty.

Pissed Jeans are more than just a band, although I’d still expect it’s their tunes – those gritty, grimy, classic grunge tunes – even more than their sense of performance which have brought such a decent crowd down on this pleasant Sunday evening in August. They sound like a Sub Pop band. The fact they have regular day-jobs, which inform the lyrical content of many of their songs only adds to their appeal. These are real, regular guys, and when given the opportunity to go all-out in front of 350 people, they’re going to give it everything. And they do.

On stage, they’re a rip-roaring powerhouse of a band, and Matt Korvette is one of the most compelling – and difficult to photograph – performers you’ll ever see. A one-man riot, he doesn’t stay still for a second, and fills the stage with equal portions of charisma and outright kineticism.

And then there are the antics, from the ripping of jeans, through the taking of turns to sit on the drummer’s stool during the playing of a song, to the tossing around the stage of a half-eaten banana. At times the performance almost threatens to overshadow the music, but it’s hard to get completely distracted from the gnarly grinding grunge that’s cranking out of the PA, and they’re masters when it comes to bludgeoning riffs and squalling feedback.

Entertainment isn’t something commonly associated with pissed-off grungy noise, but Pissed Jeans provide it in spades: spontaneous, in the moment, this is what live music is all about.
  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Pissed Jeans / Fawn Spots / Irk - Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, 16th August 2015
Pissed Jeans
Pissed Jeans / Fawn Spots / Irk - Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, 16th August 2015
Fawn Spots