Jake Tobin - Torment (Album Review)

Jake Tobin - Torment

(2014)

My copy: 2014 press by Chill Mega Chill

Jake Tobin, the man, is somewhat difficult to pin down on a brief investigation. An enigmatic artist in both realms of visuals and sonics, Torment comes as Tobin’s second full-length LP since his official debut in 2013. Torment as an album, is less enigmatic; rather it is a twisting, clanging rallying cry against the ho hum rudiments of everyday office labor. Borrowing from the post-industrial fury of the no-wave movement (or maybe more accurately the sputtering mids of D. Boon), the guitars at times emulate the clean raking of the contortions and at others shamble through exhaustion-fueled psych melodies that reflect more contemporary influences. A critical inclusion is the honking saxophone, vying desperately for our attention like a cursed windowcleaner’s squeegee interrupting the mundanity of spreadsheet sifting. What Tobin understands is that in office life - that goddamn squeegee holds ineffable power. 

Imbued with coffee-fueled mania, the slightest sound could entrance or enrage our depleted protagonist, and Tobin reflects this in the frequent detours of the first nine songs. The music tramples and stomps like a derailed machine - an apt visual comparison for cocaine-dominated white collar work environments. The lyrics and thematic sound inclusions ramble about reports, deadlines and supplies while at times breaking away to topics of madness and allusions to existential anguish. The production is not necessarily revolutionary or high quality, but it does reflect an important bedroom, DIY component that is integral to the concept of a worker breaking out of the malaise. 

Most impressive is the slanted dynamics of the melodies and structures, working in tangent with the open-mouthed vocal layers that sometimes rise and fall in pitch to haunting effect, and other times deliver eerie monotone narrations. The bass works in its own clever melodies, but the production mostly favors mids so as to emphasize the occasional spell of hypnosis (reflective of lunch breaks, perhaps?). 

The whole second half is composed of a lengthy ambient/sound collage piece titled “Hookey.” This last adventure likely represents breaking out of the machine: discovering a world of beauty and mystique by bravely discarding the stability of a working life. The tradeoff of stability for freedom is displayed in the open-flowing form of the piece, effectively serving as Tobin’s conceptual resignation letter. Though there is no implicit structure to the ending, the chords are gentle and fulfilling, finally giving way to networks of melodic rhythms. This ending paints an image of Tobin’s office-worn hero having found salvation on some distant island paradise - or perhaps for the darker minded, salvation could only be found in his death.