The Job

"...incendiary, ultra-catchy tunes."
The London Free Press
19 April 2007 - James Reaney

...The Job cranked the rock level right off the rock scale, so to speak. They rocked! Their punk influenced high energy blast was a great way to end the evening. It was as if they took the frenetic vibe created by all of the other bands of the evening, loaded it into a weapon of mass destruction and fired it into the air so as to create a mushroom cloud of intensity that was going to make it very difficult for people to simply leave the Rancho, call it a day and go to bed. This is the spirit of rock 'n roll, and I'll bet that people must have felt the same way leaving CBGB's in '75 after watching The Ramones or Television play. I love the fact that, although the likelihood of these bands solidifying a comparable spot in rock history is probably non-existent, an event like this still has the power to raise an eyebrow and get people excited about local talent. The people in that room were clearly having a great time, and creating a personal rock history of their own. - http://itsnotthebandihateitstheirfans.blogspot.com/2008/05/twm-presents-job-invasions-leonids-and.ht

There's nothing wrong with derivative music.

It's all about who you borrow from and how clearly you understand what made their stuff good in the first place.

And when it comes to London-turned-Toronto vintage punk outfit The Job, both the inspiration and awareness are right on point.

It's the Buzzcocks and XTC. Toss in some Hives and Hostage Life. It's a straight-to-the-chorus, no fuss approach that reminds you why driving, anthemic music is so damn infectious when it's done properly and without stupid gimmicks or costumes.

What you need to know: The Job is four guys - Nyles Miszczyk, Jay Holinaty, Mark Johnston and Danny Miles - originally from London, Ont. who sharpened their tacks playing pretense free at spots like Call The Office and the Alex P. Keaton. Then they made for Toronto a couple of years back, "for opportunities." As singer Miszczyk puts it. "We basically moved with the band in mind."

This town's better for it.

Though still carving out a niche in a scene desperately void of legitimate bands with a similar sound, the airtight live show and self-titled debut are a breath of fresh air to say the least.

"We recorded it in one day," says Miszczyk (appropriately enough, on the phone from work) of the record they put out right around New Year's.

"We'd practiced the snot out of those songs."

And even as the band starts writing a new record Miszczyk (pictured, below) says is, "much more horrific and mature," they're far from done playing the first one.

Summer plans include a seven-inch release, a cross-Canada tour starting in Winnipeg on July 14 and two Ontario dates with Japanese legends Zoobombs, including a NXNE show at the Velvet Underground.

There are also talks with Hi-Hat Recordings about future release possibilities.

The music itself is also rife with possibility, and Miszczyk says the group is applying some keys in the darkening of its sound, though hopefully not at the expense of that irresistible buzz saw simplicity.

Anyway, we also sniped The Job at Pop With Brains inside the Rivoli on May 22. Check it out. And then check them out for yourself. Now! You've got work to do.
- CityNews/CP24

The Job is a Toronto band that plays catchy songs about fucking and fighting. Lead dude Nyles Miszczyk talked to us about Renaissance porn, the size of the GZA’s spliff, and the shame of fucking like an eighty-year-old. And yeah, one of these is probably his crotch:

What’s the worst job interview you’ve ever had?

I took mushrooms and went to an interview for a managerial position at an amusement park, I don’t remember much of the interview – it was the worst because I got the job… I also sharted once during an interview, that was awkward.

What kind of job do you prefer–hand or blow?

Is rim an option? Probably blow – though I really do like a nice beater every once in a while…

Ever received one of the above-mentioned jobs at your place of employment?

Most definitely.

What’s the deal with your song Fighting Fucking Cars? You ride a fixie, don’t you?

That song is kind of tongue in cheek. I actually never learned to ride a bike, let alone a car, I fight like a twelve year old girl and my sexual prowess is on par with most geriatrics. It’s kind of a sad song, really.

What’s it like being besties with the GZA? How big is his spliff?

I can’t believe you heard that story!! The NXNE festival was like rock n roll fantasy camp for me this year – it was crazy. I was so far from cool when that happened, It took everything I had not to giggle like a little girl. But I’ve smoked bigger.

Is I Seen a Porno inspired by any particular video? Do you stream or use torrents? I’m looking for an alternative to YouPorn cause whenever my friends try to look up YouTube videos on my laptop it shows up on my history and it’s embarrassing cause you can see the titles eg: “Busty Adventures.“

You gotta hook up that Google Chrome action – It’s got this ‘incognito’ mode that allows you to cruise porn without it turning up in your history and shit. Streaming porn sounds like it would be the best thing in the world until you find out it’s about some internet bullshit. “Oh, I went out into the woods and it was streaming porn.” Or it sounds like strictly watersports videos…

You’re in this Richard III band too, right? My boyfriend’s really into stockings–do you think he’d like it if I dressed up in renaissance garb?

Of course he would! Can you imagine how hot it would be if he rolls off you and says “More mead, m’lady?” as he fills you a stein and you proceed to share a leg of mutton in bed. How romantic… sigh. But yeah, I was or am, or something. In Richard III that is…. Wow, I also can’t believe you knew that one too! We made this really pretty, slow, sad instrumental record but it’s never seen the light of day. Who knows what’ll happen there.

The Job is playing the Railway Club with Adjective on July 23rd. Go see em, they’re nice boys.

- WINNIE COOPER

So who are The Job, you ask? Well, The Job are a Toronto-based garage rocking quartet known for their devastatingly raucous live shows, something Winnipeggers will get to experience first hand this Monday the 27th at the Lo Pub (for free if you win the contest). If you’re interested, flip me a quick email by Friday at noon with “The Job Giveaway” in the subject line, be sure to include your full name and just for fun, answer the following question: What’s one of your essential summertime records? (While still a newbie record, Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours is and should continue to be one of my fav summer albums). One entry per person please. And remember you need to be 18 to get into the Lo.

Also, Vocalist/guitarist Nyles Miszczyk of The Job took part in the now-patented 11 questions segment and gave me some pretty decent (although succinct) responses. We apparently share a love of Xenon.

1. Where are you right now?
MOOG Audio on Queen St. (at work)

2. Who is the best Toronto-based band (other than your own, of course)?
Bang Bangs - their lead singer Sian will take you into a back alley, sing the shit out of you and leave you for dead. Brilliant.

3. What are your top three, all-time favourite records?
Beatles - Revolver, Television - Marquee Moon, Beulah - When Your Heartstrings Break

4. Of the albums you own, which has the best cover art?
Louvin Brothers - Satan Is Real

5. What is one song you love, but dismiss as “a guilty pleasure”?
"Peg" by Steely Dan

6. What was the last great concert you saw?
King Khan & The Shrines. They'll make you believe.

7. Would you rather have invisibility or flight?
Invisibility, because airplanes take care of all my flying needs.

8. What is your favourite periodic element?
Xenon - I like my gasses noble.

9. Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart?
Jon Stewart. His hair in Death To Smoochy is a constant inspiration to me and the rest of the band.

10. What book(s) are you currently reading?
The Collected Short Works of Roald Dahl... probably the 5th time I read it.

11. And finally…who’s your favourite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, or Raphael?
Michelangelo. Easy. Did you know that Splinter and Elmo are played by the same guy? I shit you not.

- PAINTING OVER SILENCE

Often overlooked in the grand story of popular music, London, Ontario has long been a secret training ground for outward-bound Canadian talent. Kittie, The Band’s Garth Hudson, Guy Lombardo, The Demics and the Ready record label are all disparate musical exports from a city often dismissed as merely the nation’s insurance-industry capital.

London’s latest arrival to Toronto — new wave/punk revivalists The Job — have clearly done their homework, flaunting speedy power-pop that harkens back to early XTC, Buzzcocks and The Stranglers. Unsurprisingly, a long-term record store job and an enlightened sibling were invaluable in developing the band’s ’77-vintage sound.

“I’ve been working in record stores since I was 16,” says singer/guitarist Nyles Miszczyk. “I also have an older sister who’s a total music snob, who really got me into the right stuff at an early age. I’m all about the Steve Lillywhite–produced XTC albums, and huge into bands like The Clash and The Monks (the English Monks). The stuff that really works for me is the ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’ stuff.”

Getting to the chorus quickly is something The Job do very well — tracks like “Problem” and “Killer” are explicit lessons in high-speed musical simplicity. But was it London’s relative isolation — away from all that Toronto schmoozing — that helped the band to hone its economic style in peace?

“London venues like Call the Office and The Alex P. Keaton have awesome artists coming through — it was actually a really good scene,” Miszczyk says. “But there was still more opportunity in Toronto. Although it’s hard to find free practice space here. In London we used to practice in the back of Grooves Records, where I worked. We rehearsed for a while at the Amsterdam Brewery for free. But I guess we’re pay-to-play Toronto musicians now.”
- EYE WEEKLY

Written by Richard Amery
Thursday, 16 July 2009

Toronto pop punk band “The Job” are prepared to do the job right, if bringing back the spirit of British pop/punk like the Clash, Buzzcocks and XTC is the job at hand. They play the Slice, July 20 with the Crosstown Rivals.
“We’ve only done for or five-day tours around Ontario and the eastern United States. This is our first Cross Canadian tour,” said guitarist/vocalist Nyles Miszczyk, whose voice on record sounds like he is from London, England rather than London, Ontario.
“That’s the way I learned to sing,” he laughed.
“That’s where I got my chops — by listening to XTC, the Buzzcocks and the Clash, it (the British singing accent) just comes naturally, ” he continued.
“When I sing in my natural Canadian accent, it just doesn’t sound right. It (British punk-pop) is definitely the stuff we’re influenced by,” he said.
The members of The Job, who are all 26 years old, all hold down day jobs and had to take time off from them to do their first Canadian tour, which begins in Winnipeg.
- LETHBRIDGE SUN TIMES

Kicking the week off right, the Gladstone hosted an Eye Weekly Wednesday-night showcase of some exceptional local talent. The Job were first to take the stage, and began the evening with some no-holds-barred Red-Bull-chugging punk rock that had their drummer sweaty and shirtless by the third song into the set.

Sounding very much like a Strokes-influenced, Hives-loving tribute to the Ramones, the band strong-armed their way past technical difficulties and silly things like deep lyrics (there were lots of yeah!s and whoa!s) almost effortlessly.

The result was an energetic and aggressive set that could only have ended in hardcore rock-and-roll style: with the band carelessly yet angrily throwing their instruments to the floor, kicking their pedals off the platform, and walking off-stage. Later that night, I heard someone in the crowd describe this to his friend as the end of a “truly special” performance, which proves that this band definitely made an impression.
- MUCH MUSIC

There's a period of acclimatization at the beginning of every big music fest. In general, you hope that the first few early sets by under-the-radar bands will help ease you into things -- more often than not, the acts at 8 and 9 pm have fanbases (and buzz factors) that are modest enough to make for a more low-key showcase. That was not the case for the Eye Weekly/MuseBox show at the Gladstone Hotel last night.

I showed up around 9:15 pm, hoping to catch the second half of London (ON)-bred, Toronto-based punk act the Job's raucous set. Much to my surprise, the venue was already packed almost to capacity, with passholders and would-be ticket-buyers spilling out of the front entrance and straining to hear the band's raucous, jittery riffs, which echoed out to the street every time a sweaty patron passed through the doors. The healthy turnout was even more impressive when you consider that last night wasn't even the proper launch of CMW's festival component: there were only a handful of showcases scheduled on Wednesday night.

Despite their early time slot, the Job seemed to get more praise from industry folks than any other band on the bill. Chalk that up to their bristling guitar technique, tight songs and sharp focus, qualities that set them apart from half of last night's performers, including the 10 pm act, Torontonian collective Everything All The Time.
- CBC

“The Beat
the earthly beat
have you been a
good (drummer) boy
never played
with your”
tom/toms

never shared your
bomb/bombs.

on the beat

foot tapping be/
drums
b(eat) keepers
time
tempo
Frenetic
sweaty
cosmetics
pouring it out

Holy F#ck
tshirt

“where’s your shirt?”
she asks, “that’s my favorite!”

“it’s soaked in dance sweat.”

it’s sweat puddling
salt pooling
in the hatchback
beats
gimme the sweets!
and these are my dancing feats!

3,4,5 hours a day
during the last four daze
of the Winnipeg Folk Festival

(thank you, Elvis Costello
for The Beat, er,
Pete Thomas
my main drummer
man)

The Night
Soon
Ten Times
Andrea
House
I Ain’t Going (To Jail?)
Gun
Brother John
Keep Calm
Control
Impossible
I Seen A Porno
Problem

13 songs in 13 minutes
okay
it only felt that way
the speed
the tempo
the dance
heart attack zone
i am 45 after,
all

oh no, here we go again,

there’s that gap
you know that gap
the one
where the stage
is and the band is
playing on
messing us around on
and the floor is
that space
That
Gap
is

and there’s no one filling it
there’s no one dancing it
moving it

and there’s this Hot
stroking,
madness
jumping,
spazzing
orgasm,
zing band
from Toronto
spilling and thrilling their
passion seeds all over
the stage floor

clean it up boys!

at The Lo Pub
“such a pleasure to imply”
that it’s all about The Sex
that emanates
from The Beat

“i don’t want to disease you”
i just want to dance you
into oblivion

“i’m in complete control”

“i don’t want to lick them”
i just wanna prick them

blow ‘em all away
and
“making love
ten times a
day”

i just Love doing it
ten hours a day!
Hans Solo
Dancing Duo
web/camming
phone/jamming
Mr. Sulu!
Star Wars!
Star Trekking it
flowing it
bleeding it
on the universal
multi/verse
dance floor
spilling my soul’s seed
all over the place

string theory!

i don’t know where
this zaniness cums from!

that’s my disgrace,

so i fill it up
The Gap
that is
a couple times
and just for fun
the i’m “blessed”
by the guitar

merci bien
for the merci beats

mostly, i just danced
it
in my place
my dance space
anywhere i lay my feet on
and get laid
get played
get made
by,

The Job

(i won’t cheapen this poem
by talking bout
hand jobs
blow jobs
and ass
lick jobs)

Ha!

The Job

they’re touring
they’re spieling

http://www.myspace.com/workthejob

Nyles and Jay on vokes and hot
lick gees
where are the flying Vnecks!
Mark yelling it
mike/less on the B(ass)
and Danny pistol,whipping
S and M’ing
the skins
and metals

Ramones
Gang Of Four
Wreckless Eric
Pussy Galore
U2, early U2
wreckless eric U2
it’s all about break,necking
hey!
i gotta Problem
that song
is just
Too
In,
tense!
stop it
gentlemen
the ladies are creaming
their panties
and i’m stiff
just writing this,

Holy F#ck!

cool/cock/clitty
rock n roll in
One Great City
Winnipeg

The Job return
to The Lo Pub
July 27th

let’s go
blow ‘;em
away
with our
little trigger
fingers

filling That Gap

with our silliness

hey, did they tell you the one
about their really short, er,
really small friend
who was dog sitting
this really old dog?

it involves a suitcase

it involves
life and death

it involves
a helping hand
and innocent lies

it involves the subway system
in Toronto,

oh, you gotta go see The Job
to get
the punch/drunk/line
and get the laughs

just ask ‘em
about their really small friend
dog sitting,

it’s all about
The Job

visiting you
in your comfort
zone
and blowing your asses
away!

shake it up
booty boys
booty girls
get your asses
in the fix
pick up the drummer’s
lightning sticks
and move it!

The Job
Lo Pub
July 15
that’s a (w)rap!
- GUTTERSNIPE