Depresh Mode by King Bob

Jackson McDonald has been kicking around the fringes of Victoria’s DIY scene for most of the last decade, most recently as bassist for nerd-rock band The Plodes, while also serving as co-frontman of synthpunk duo Timing X from 2015 to 2020. After an extended Covid-induced hiatus, McDonald has offered up Depresh Mode, a collection of home recordings that stand as his first official solo release under the moniker King Bob.

The brisk 4-song EP is based around the simple premise that being sad is often also kind of funny. There’s something inherently ridiculous about feeling like you’re hurtling towards the abyss while binge-watching 70’s detective shows. Inwardly, what feels like a vortex of self-hatred and existential dread is expressed outwardly in towers of empty pizza boxes and Pabst Blue Ribbon cans.

A consistent thread that weaves its way through each track is the feeling of being trapped, whether in a physical space, a social group, a job, or even your own body— as is the case on the final track, a cover of Alex Lahey’s I Haven’t Been Taking Care Of Myself.

It’s also reflected sonically, with instrumentation and arrangements designed to work around the challenges of recording loud music in a quiet space. The title track blends the buzzsaw dual-guitar interplay of early-2000s pop-punk with glitchy GarageBand synths and drum programming that lands somewhere between the suffocating weight of Big Black and the playful self-awareness of They Might Be Giants’ Lincoln; each provided courtesy of KB’s erstwhile Plodes bandmate Reid Blakely.

It also serves as a soft-launch for Victoria-based label Last Marmot, brainchild of The This singer/drummer Evan Matthiesen, also the EP’s engineer and co-producer. Depresh Mode marks the beginning of what looks to be a prolific period for both ventures, with KB’s 20-song debut album slated for release in late 2023

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