Jackoff Demons traverse heaven and hell with ‘Second Coming’

Second Coming, the sophomore album from the rapidly maturing electro-scuzz trio Jackoff Demons, splits its time between opposing realms.

Throughout, singer and songwriter Eben Tobar’s focus drifts between a rotted earthly existence where political authoritarianism and growing wealth inequality have combined to make life borderline untenable for most of humanity and a spiritual plane that arrives with its own questions but perhaps also the promise of something better. “Go to church on Sunday/I’ll pray and pray,” he sings on the crusted, motorik “On a Mission.” “I feel forgiven/I feel okay.”

Contrast this with the album opening “Waiting All My Life,” an underwater acoustic lament on which Tobar documents an environmental landscape where poisoned rivers flow through barren fields and an economic landscape where things are somehow even bleaker. “Sweet Jesus, won’t you let me afford/Decent quality of life?” he sings. Toward the end of the album, the slinky “Snake Oil” takes aim at a detached ruling class that “doesn’t give a fuck” about the harms being enacted on the larger populace, who continue to eke out a meager existence amid spiking prices, the shredding of the social safety net, and the advancement of policies aimed at increasing the grip on power the few hold over the many.

“That’s definitely a thread I hold close to my heart,” said Tobar, who will join bandmates Olivia Stefanoff and Nate Wilder (both of Big Fat Head) in celebrating the release of Second Coming at Cafe Bourbon Street on Saturday, June 6. The concert, billed as Bobobalooza, doubles as celebration of the “25-ish” years the local punk dive has been in existence and also features performances from Outer Spacist, Pill Time, Lavender Jets, Trayvon Barksdale, Eatt, Son of Dribble, and Ron House. (Doors open at 5 p.m.)

The spiritual references surfaced throughout, however, emerged as more of a surprise to the musician, who traced his complex relationship with religion back through childhood “Getting into the religious thing, it’s kind of weird, because I’ve kind of been a staunch non-believer ever since I was a little kid,” said Tobar, who now describes himself as agnostic, his reinterrogation of faith more recently stoked by the philosophical ideas present within some theological writings, as well as by the death of a childhood friend whose passing continues to leave an imprint. “And he was actually a very free thinker who was born into a very Christian family. … And I think talking about these things is honoring his spirit in a way.”

In considering these ideas and the process by which they began to reemerge, Tobar returned to one of his earliest memories, recalling the time at age 4 when he was playing outside with a neighbor from down the street who tackled him in the snow. While the two were still on the ground, he looked her in the eyes and said, “I don’t believe in God.”

“And she said, ‘Neither do I,’ and then she kissed me and I freaked out and ran home,” said Tobar, whose experience growing up in the church consisted of attending mass on Christmas and Easter. “I wasn’t a very good listener as a kid, and I was maybe kind of ADHD. And so, [church] just didn’t click for me, and I always felt isolated in those spaces, so it was kind of like, eh, fuck that. … And it’s funny to think back, but it’s always been a liberating thing for me to be critical of. … And maybe some of those jabs now are coming more from a place of healing.”

The deep humanism present in many of Jackoff Demons’ lyrics can serve as a counterbalance to the instrumentation, most tracks generally beginning with the programmed beat of a drum machine – a tool that Tobar said “forces a more manufactured feel” on the music that he has found compelling to explore. “And it’s nothing against drummers. I’m a drummer, and I started with the drums. But … seeing how we can fit these songs into that robotic beat has been fun,” Tobar said. “It’s like you have this rhythm, and then you’re finding the pockets in it, which is rock and roll, you know?”