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[POP PUNK] The dudes in Mean Jeans might party hard, but they are also secret perfectionists. Over two albums and a bunch of singles, Portland's pop-punk savants have carefully constructed their own twisted world. Rendered in perfectly spaced-out stoner poetry, it is a place ruled by junk food, booze, '90s nostalgia and the Ramones, and its creators have yet to make a single misstep in its management. Tight New Dimension, Mean Jeans' first album for Fat Wreck Chords, is another faultless addition to the band's expanding universe. The shadows of Joey and Johnny (as well as fellow glue-sniffers like Ben Weasel and Joe Queer) stick close, but like 2012's On Mars, Tight New Dimension is brightened by the band's deep love of polished power pop. Imagine if everything on Subterranean Jungle was as spectacular as "I Need Your Love," or if everything on Anthem for a New Tomorrow was as amazing as "Claire Monet." Those are brilliant songs on very good albums, but Tight New Dimension sustains its flight through the rarefied air of genius for nearly 30 minutes. Pop punk doesn't get better than this. Pop doesn't get better than this. The world doesn't get better than this.
SEE IT: Mean Jeans plays the Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont St., with Fire Retarded and Mister Tang, on Thursday, May 12. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.
Willamette Week