It’s gotten to the point where it’s hard to imagine daily life without a Zoom call. For many of us who are fortunate enough to still have our day job, we now find ourselves popping into digital meetings, and spending increased amounts of time in and out of Google Docs. As a band, JOBS has been dealing with this since before COVID even broke out, and in anticipation of their upcoming album Endless Birthdays, their first single “Brian” is accompanied by a music video that gives you a glimpse into the digital dreamscape that they have been thriving and creating in.
JOBS has been distanced throughout the country in the creation of Endless Birthdays. Which to some bands may cause a halt in their production. However, JOBS found a way to let that space work in their favor. Dummer and director of the video, Max Jaffe, even considered it to be an asset for them. “Brian” for example, pieces together like a surreal collaborative dream thought up by multiple sleeping entities, but manages to feel completely cohesive at the same time – a seemingly impossible task executed to perfection. The video takes this to another level. Shot via screen recordings on a Google Doc in just two “takes,” it became somewhat of a performance in itself. It’s like a weeks worth of work meetings and documentation digested, spit out, and then splattered with paint, I love it. The brilliance (and now relevance) behind it is nothing short of incredible.
Musically the core of the song rides a hypnotizingly pleasant composition as the vocals are chanted alongside. The song is catchy and a bit unwonted, but ultimately just plain addicting. The vocals (especially through the chorus) are so (so) fun to sing along to, and with the lyrics typed out (although with quite a few typos), you get an even more magnified view into the collective brain that is JOBS. What does it all mean? I’m not quite sure, the lyrics are taken and inspired by JOBS’ violist/vocalist Jessica Pavone’s dream journals, so like any dream, you need to apply the meaning as it relates to you.
JOBS is on track to dazzle us all with their third full length due out August 7th via Ramp Local. Pre-orders are now available, and the second single is also out for your listening (and viewing) pleasure.
Words by Jacob Saxton