Jobber : Jobber to the Stars
Pro wrestling is once again having a moment, albeit a complicated one. As usual this is driven by the near-monolithic WWE, thanks to ongoing controversy (the McMahon family’s ties to the Trump administration, the Janel Grant case, sponsors expanding even to the tables wrestlers break) and newly unprecedented access (streaming deals and content, talent invading TV and movie environments, memorable live events). But now there are also plenty of less problematic options to explore including AEW, CMLL, AAA, MLW, and TNA. In this suddenly rich environment we find Brooklyn band Jobber and their first LP, Jobber to the Stars, embracing the imagery of the industry insofar as luchadors’ masks conceal their true identities.
Jobber’s rock isn’t joke rock. In the equivalent of a wrestling “swerve” (an in-storyline decision that goes against behavior expected by fans), Kate Meizner and her band don’t actually pump songs full of namechecks or stories about the business. Instead, her titles (“Going Into Business for Myself,” “Raw is War”) and select lyrical references (infamous in-ring injuries, the weaponry of no-disqualification matches) serve as avatars for songwriting about commonly understood personal experiences, among them the emotional and existential—just like most musicians out there. Meizner actually casts Jobber to the Stars as a loosely autobiographical anti-capitalist work, sideswiping sports-entertainment’s notoriety for worker exploitation.
She guides this band and those words through 11 tracks full of knotty hooks and submerged melody, following a bright line from the grunge and riot grrrl movements of the ‘90s to modern interpretations of punk and power-pop. It feels like no surprise that Jobber learned at the feet of producers who previously worked with Dinosaur Jr. and Momma. “Nightmare” brings guitar earworms, gooey synths, and Michael Falcone’s splashy drums together for what sounds like a bouncy take on the perils of union organizing (“To spend more money on damage control/than people bending over backward for you”). Elsewhere, “Summerslam” and “Million Dollar Man” rumble and bloom, precious suggestions of superstars’ entrance themes that might have come from in-house WWE composers.
Jobber don’t necessarily need wrestling jargon or mythology to prop up their music—the burnout ballad “Clothesline from Hell” could just as easily have been called “In the Way,” a phrase lifted from the chorus—but it sure helps them navigate today’s algorithms. Jobber to the Stars is a successful exercise in finding obtuse inspiration in source material, much in the same way Liz Phair once famously did with The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street. It’s kind of a romp, and a pretty smart one at that.
Label: Exploding in Sound
Year: 2025
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