Mean Jeans

Tears in My Beers [7 inch] (2010)

Joe Pelone

Fresh from their super catchy, super fun Ramones tribute Are You Serious?, pop-punkers Mean Jeans return with a two-song seven-inch for Trouble in Mind. "Tears in My Beers" and "Cool to Drive" are probably as close to a concept album as the band is ever going to make. When I say the songs show little artistic growth, I really mean the group succeeds in yet again whipping out spitfire surf punk for pogo enthusiasts.

"Tears in My Beers" is exactly what the title suggests: dude gets bummed, cries into his beer, then drinks his beer. I suppose there are ">worse bodily fluids to put in your drinks.

"Cool to Drive" is the better song, even if it does kind of endorse drunk driving, but the hook that propels the chorus "I don't care if it takes a hundred years / I'm gonna drink a million beers" is undeniable. My drankin' buddies have a slogan: "Beers for years." I like to think "Cool to Drive" could be our unofficial anthem, but I'm not sure how well sloppy hands and vinyl grooves will work together.