With influences ranging from early-'80s punk to '90s hardcore, the members of the Gatecrashers (Matt Korvette, Bradley Fry, Dave Rosenstrauss, and Tim) started penning songs for a demo under the name Unrequited Hard-On. Soon after, they changed their name to Pissed Jeans and recorded a second demo with the addition of a new song, "Night Minutes." After concocting a new batch of woeful anti-authoritative material, they released a 7" titled Throbbing Organ, and their first LP, Shallow, on Parts Unknown (later remastered and reissued by Sub Pop Records in 2014). Shallow branched off from the sounds of Flipper and Stick Men with Rayguns into sludgier and more droning territory. After the departure of drummer Tim, they recruited Sean McGuinness to take over, and the band signed to iconic grunge label Sub Pop.
Despite their new status, the bandmembers kept their day jobs. Guitarist Fry continued working in account management, bassist Rosenstrauss converted cars to run on biodiesel, and frontman Korvette worked as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. The blue-collar way of life fueled the lyrical fire for a 7" released on June 6, 2006, called I Don't Need Smoke to Make Myself Disappear, an angry ditty about working in a restaurant and despising the patrons. The following year, Pissed Jeans released their second full-length, the heavy, plodding Hope for Men for Sub Pop, while remaining in their hometown. After touring and making a video for "I've Got You Ice Cream," the group returned with King of Jeans in 2009. A fourth album, Honeys, arrived in 2013. In 2017, the band returned with its fifth studio album, Why Love Now, offering a typically acerbic opinion on the mundane elements of everyday life. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi