Austin-based One Last Job struts an impassioned rock sound on the new album Been Here Ever Since, tackling themes of gratitude and self-discovery within a society ripe in corporatization and workplace pressure. One Last Job represents the work of multi-instrumentalist Travis Klein.
The opening “Been Here Ever Since, Pt. One” plays like a retrospective tour guide, walking through an office in the shoes of a prospective intern, alongside a hypnotic guitar pulse. The two-minute mark and band-referencing lyrical sequence invigorates, gearing up from debonair stream-of-conscious encountering to an expressive rock and punk-pop cohesion. “I’ll live and work and die,” the vocals let out, conveying a sense of day-to-day mundanity and how it can be difficult to escape its jaws once in place.
The album doesn’t let go of its grip from there. “25 to Life” continues themes of professional expectations, and the tendency of doubt to arrive following as one enters adulthood. “Putting a tie on and shaking in the mirror, why isn’t my future looking any clearer?” the vocals ruminate, assuming a sense of growing-up, or at least a hope to feel grown up. “I’m not so sure what I’m working toward,” twangy guitars complement. The album’s opening one-two punch engrosses in its portrayal of a quest for self-purpose alongside a charismatic lo-fi rock sound, reminiscent of Magnetic Fields.
Highlights are abundant throughout the album. Brassy effervescence plays a prominent role on “Another Night,” standing out especially upon the “reaching for a vision,” hook. “Fossil” embraces a different spectrum entirely, pairing ghostly guitar murmurs with twinkling keys for a delectably chilling sound. “I’m afraid to evolve,” the vocals sing, an apt summation of the album’s lyrical themes within, gripping in their portrayal of self-growth and the challenges within.
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“Been Here Ever Since, Pt. One” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
