PISSED JEANS

Half Divorced (Sub Pop)

Addressing the absurdities of modern life, with the sand timer running out faster than before, there is a sense of urgency to Pennsylvanian punk rockers Pissed Jeans’ sixth album, Half Divorced, with the majority of its songs clocking in at under two minutes. The potentially crushing existential dread of middle age and a nihilistic worldview is attacked with an unwavering sense of the absurdity of the whole thing, with hilarious lyrics that reaffirm that life is too short to spend unnecessary time dredging the pits of middle-aged despair.

Rather than feeling a sense of crushing defeat listening to this album, I was left with an optimism and sense of freedom that life sucks sometimes and you have to get on with it. The aptly-titled Moving On closes the album by urging us to free ourselves of the shackles of an unhappy life and to move towards whatever the next hurdle is that life spews into your face.

words GARETH MOULE