Cassette Review: Jake Tobin "Sorta Upset!" (Haord Records)

[$5 // https://haord.bandcamp.com/album/sorta-upset]

The first time I heard Jake Tobin it was because of Chill Mega Chill.   I'm in some cassette groups on Facebook and so someone posted a photo of this cassette and said it was one of the best of 2016 thus far, so seeing as how I enjoyed the previous music I had heard by Jake Tobin I decided to give it a go and went to buy the cassette from the label because apparently my typing words about cassettes and calling them "reviews" doesn't matter as much as someone just posting a single photo and calling it cassette of the year.    But, whatever.   Not everyone goes to buy music the same way and so perhaps my reviews are still appreciated.

The overall sound on "Sorta Upset" is one of video game music, but it also dives into this feeling of a television theme song, perhaps something from the 1990's era of Nickelodeon animation (As it could be a mashed up version of something like "Rocko's Modern Life" with a sped up "Rugrats")   1980's synth, some Primus and even vocals coming through at times leave way for a sort of lullaby of dings for the children to end out the first side.

Side B is just as chaotic.   It's the A.D.D. of music really.   If a label once really asked Gatsbys American Dream where the chorus was in their songs I'd be interested to hear what they have to say about the songs of Jake Tobin here.   With elements of pop punk rock and even drum machines getting tightly wound up, this is one of the most sporadic yet constant cassettes I've heard in a while and I do enjoy it quite a bit.

I had this plan once and it involved making music in small intervals.  I wanted to just create little songs instead of trying to craft a three or four minute song.   It came from the idea when I would get maybe two or three lines for a song in my head and then just sit down and record that instead of trying to write an entire song based around it.   I don't want to say that now it feels like I was stealing Jake Tobin's idea because I didn't know about it at the time- obviously- but I'm just glad that someone else is on the same page as me musically.   And even more so now that I hear this cassette I will likely keep recording my tiny songs but I'm less likely to ever release them to the public.