Job – Meaningless lp

Job – Meaningless lp

"My first introduction to JOB was their appearance on the Cokegoat/Barren Heir release show bill last month, where they kicked off the night with their fascinating, noisy instrumental rock. As part of my pre-show investigation, I checked out, then frantically bought, their first EP on Bandcamp, so I’m excited to have a chance to share my thoughts on their follow-up, the debut LP Meaningless.

Meaningless continues in the same vein as JOB’s first EP, striking a balance between slick prog-rock grooves and dismal, dark passages that hit hard and keep the listener engaged. Think something like King Crimson’s later 70’s output, but purely instrumental and with much more of a focus on atmosphere-building electronic elements. This has its own unmistakable sound, with a harsh, stripped-down and sometimes a bit insane approach to noisy prog-rock. If you’re like me, that already has got you furiously hunting for the “Play” button somewhere on this page (hint: it’s at the bottom). Fans of synthwave might find something to like here too, now that I think of it.

The record kicks off with “More Fucking”, spending the first few minutes developing an ominous rumble. This breaks into a lilting groove, still deceptively relaxing, before climbing into synth-driven, groovy laddering madness. Meaningless oscillates between multiple states of being throughout – noisy, quiet, cacophonic, melodic – but most of the time there’ll be an interesting drum motif with cohesive layers of electronic and string-based complexity on top, often with what feels like a call and response approach. The record’s production is excellent – it’s been engineered to sound tight but massive, which allows every groove, pattern and strange chord to resonate in your skull." - Ted / Chicago Doom Confederacy