Three-piece alternative rock band from Moline, IL, or maybe just a solo project in disguise, as the cassette credits only “Jakob Fucking Martin.” The A-side has seven tracks, while the B-side is hand-labeled: “Side B: ????”. The big reveal for me was that mine was blank, though online I discovered that the band offered to custom-record a B-side of each tape for an additional $3: “Can’t guarantee it will be a good song, or that the audio quality will be any good.” Honestly, after hearing the slick, professional A-side, I think I would personally prefer the goofy, off-the-cuff lo-fi tracks that were custom-made for fans.

The recording is very slick, clear, and professional, but stylistically, nothing on this cassette really grabbed me. Yet MOCKTAG is clearly doing something right as this recording has since been pressed onto a 10” which is almost entirely sold out. There is an aspect to MOCKTAG that is oddly memorable, and it took me the entirety of this cassette to realize what it was…

In my younger punk years, as a ploy to ‘get me back on the right track,’ the born-again Christian side of my family convinced me to escort my younger cousin to the Kingdom Bound music festival. For those of you uninitiated (lucky you), this is a Christian attempt to look cool to the youth by having Christian-rock bands perform youth-oriented music, praying between songs. The final band of the night was the long-running Christian ska-punk band FIVE IRON FRENZY, and I can’t believe I have the ability to make this reference, but the way Jakob Fucking Martin sings makes MOCKTAG sound almost identical to that band, although I doubt they would endorse the subject matter on the tapes final track, “Julia’s Party”. Thanks, I guess, for unlocking this very strange memory.

Label: self-released

Band: MOCKTAG