5/10/12

 Mean Jeans - On Mars - Dirtnap

8.0/10

My memory of the first time I heard Mean Jeans' debut full length record are vague. I know I was probably wasted, and the guitar riff instantly implanted itself in my brain. I spent the next few days at work listening to it over and over again. Anytime I would throw the record on, the other people in the room would sing along. Everyone knew the words, and if they didn't, they had heard the record. It got around fast, because it was a lot of fun, and there's never a reason not to party.

 But now, I'm just going to say that I've been sober for nearly a month and a half. When the follow up to one of my most played records of the last decade, "On Mars" was released, I was skeptical if I could have the same feeling listening to lyrics about shotgunning cheap beer and powering through a bag of nose-candy at a back yard pizza party. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised.

 I've asked around since the records recent release, wondering what pals and acquaintances think of the new turn that Mean Jeans has taken from very short and very catchy distorted Ramones tribute songs to extended jams that are less to the point. I've been met with two simple responses followed by a change of subject, the first being that it sucks and the second being that it rips. We punks are a simple bunch. And even though I don't feel the need to thoroughly discuss the subject with said pals, I feel as if I can understand where both sides are coming from.

 On the subject of sucking:

 "Are You Serious" fuckin' ripped, brah. Every time I put that shit on I shotgun like five beers and fall down in my back yard! Sometimes I bust a line so big that my left eye pops out, then I rip the pant legs off my jeans, slap on a pair of sunglasses and jump off my roof onto a mattress. Yeah, I'm that jacked!

 But seriously folks, who can't get behind a series of songs about having a great fucking time? It is pretty much one of the most fun punk records you can put on, and most of us have mad love for it. There are a select few who can't get behind the Mean Jeans hype, but that's cool. Hey bud, let's party anyway. Long story short, it was the record of Summer for a huge group of sweet dudes and ladies, so the follow-up was eagerly awaited. We wanted to have fun again.

 The fact that the first track didn't blaze through a ten second first verse, a five second chorus and have a two second guitar solo didn't make us happy. We searched the track list, skipping around, trying to find that jam that was a direct brother of "Party Animal", but it never came. So we threw the record in the garbage and put "Are You Serious" back on.

Really though, "On Mars" does rule. Maybe not as much as "Are You Serious", and for different reasons. Mean Jeans are the same band, but after touring around, playing the same jams for a while and having a pretty great time I imagine they wanted to try something a bit new. After all, the Ramones didn't make the same record every year, and they made a stack of fantastic records.

 The difference here is that Mean Jeans take on a lot more of their influences, and seem to have fun with it. There isn't a bummer track on this album. They aren't all a minute or two long, they might have more interesting guitar parts, more thought-out background vocals, better bass-lines, and all around be more diverse. All of these things are not hard to pull off, as earlier Mean Jeans is simple, and extremely straight-forward.

 The best part about records like "On Mars" is that they blow by you. Every time I've listened to it, it's started and ended before I knew what was going on. Not that it's a short record, but I can get lost listening to it. Which means I can listen to it again and again, without it getting old. Hopefully, until a new record comes out, which (also hopefully) will sound different as well.

 Break it out and party. Big time.

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