Pissed Jeans, Electric Ballroom, London

“I’m not sure if you guys know this, but apparently the Electric Ballroom has a rule against looking this fucking good on stage,” declares Pissed Jeans frontman Matt Kosloff, “but we’re gonna go ahead and play anyways.” You have to admire such a brazen statement, especially coming from a slightly overweight and distinctly average looking thirty-something male. But Pissed Jeans, if you hadn’t already guessed from their name, don’t really give a shit.

Following a misleading and angelic spotlight a cappella performance to open the set (at Kosloff’s insistence), they proceed to barrage this sultry Camden crowd with some jarring, riotous punk of the highest order. And their performance is unbelievable. The levels of recklessness reached tonight border on downright violent. The band fling and hurl themselves across every corner of the stage. By the end of the first song, Kosloff has already ripped off the entire left sleeve of what was previously a perfectly pleasant blue button-up shirt. There was no reason for it. He didn’t even look like he wanted to do it. It was as if his own music had possessed him and made him do it. Maybe God made him do it?

Who knows. Either way, it’s impossible to take your eyes off of him. At various stages tonight he carelessly caresses himself in an entirely private manner, bends over with his face below his manhood and proceeds to sing from beneath his ass, and incessantly mocks the audience about how much better Leeds and Manchester are then London. Because “Leeds has pizzas, cabs and universities” and “Manchester had a Marks & Spencer’s,’ apparently.

But there’s definitely a level of showmanship going on with Kosloff that’s impossible to ignore. He carries himself with an audacity and arrogance that even Johnny Borrell wouldn’t dare attempt, but for some reason, totally pulls it off. Why? Because it feels so impossibly unreal that it has to be a bluff. This is Kosloff in acting mode. This is his onstage persona; his alter-ego, if you will. And it’s downright awesome to watch. The music is, of course, absolutely brilliant as well. It’s noisy, feedback-filled and unyielding in energy, and totally serves its purpose in pleasing an aggressive and tireless audience. But the music takes a back seat to its lead singer tonight. Kosloff is the star of the show here, and rightly so.