Jawbreaker (band)
Jawbreaker | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1988–1996 |
| Members | Blake Schwarzenbach Chris Bauermeister Adam Pfahler |
Jawbreaker was a San Francisco punk band with roots in Los Angeles, where members Blake Schwarzenbach and Adam Pfahler were students at Crossroads High School together. The band came together when they met bass player Chris Bauermeister at New York University in 1988.
Style
The band's music is characterized by raw vocals, a driving rhythm section, and grinding guitar--a palette used by many punk bands--but also features complex song structure, melody, instrumental interludes, and obscure sampled recordings. Jawbreaker's lyrics, written largely by Schwarzenbach, are imbued with a literary drunk's melancholy along the lines of early Charles Bukowski and late Anne Sexton fusing personal longing and love-sickness with animistic fetishization of objects both public (boats and boxcars) and private (books and bottles). Lyrics for "First Step", an outtake from the 24 Hour Revenge Therapy sessions, are a good example:
Did you ever have one of these days? / This is a day like any other day. / You are free to wake up and shave. / Soapy hands fumbling on the porcelain. / Hot, good coffee, and a good, good book. / Bicycle! Bicycle! / Breathing easier now. / Tear the roof of your day. / No one's coming over. / It ain't written so don't try to read it. / Smell the hot rain on the street. / Could be love. Could be alcohol. / Cup my hands around your face. / A little frame. A lot of pain. / I can tell the tears from the rain. / One tastes sweet, the other plain. / And who am I to think I could hang such a precious life on a clever line? / You're in all the books I read. / A hundred pages out of reach. / And so I throw myself... hit the street. / It'll take some time to learn the lesson of the fall and begin another climb.
Other songs reflect on post-college depression, social criticism, and youthful aspiration, and embody much of the same style.
Jawbreaker's first LP was recorded in Venice, California, and released in 1990; it is a combination of slightly poppy punk and grating hardcore. The album has been characterized as a pop-punk album with bite, a description that fails to account for the subtle poetic/artistic nature of Jawbreaker's early work. Unlike what is described today as "pop-punk", Unfun had a sad darkness to it and a maturity with literary aspirations. In "Busy", Schwarzenbach sings: "When nothing seems to be quite worth it and sleep becomes your only sure thing/I'm here to help you out of it/Come and see me for a lift".
Jawbreaker went on hiatus from late 1990 to early 1991, while members of the band finished college. Upon reforming, they relocated to San Francisco's Mission District. It was also around this time that they inspired a following at 924 Gilman Street, a Berkeley venue. The band immediately began to write songs for a new album, Bivouac, which was recorded in 1991 in San Francisco. The album was a sprawling epic: slower, gloomier songs, and more complex arrangements. While it had poppier moments: "Chesterfield King" and "You Don't Know What You Got ('Til It's Gone)" (a Joan Jett cover), it also had lush dark songs featuring instrumental breakdowns and an infusion of call-and-response interplay among the instruments. Almost a period piece, the instrumentation and record quality has the watermark of late '80s/early '90s indie music.
After touring relentlessly, Blake's raspy vocal stylings finally caught up with him, requiring throat surgery. Post-surgery the band recorded 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, which was released in 1994. The bulk of the album was recorded by well known indie producer, Steve Albini (though it is officially credited to Albini's cat, Fluss). In the liner notes to the "Etc." compilation, Adam noted that Albini charged the band $1,032 for recording the album. Not only had Blake's singing become slightly less raspy, the songs are shorter and imbued with a more festive elation than on Bivouac. In the midst of the writing/recording process for the album, the band embarked on the "When It Pains, It Roars" tour. Growing criticism from their core fans, especially after they played a few dates with Nirvana, left the band disillusioned. The band reacted with such scathing songs as "Boxcar": You're not punk, and I'm telling everyone/ save your breath, I never was one/ you don't know what I'm all about/ like killing cops and reading Kerouac. It is Steven Smith (of Steven's Untitled Rock Show)'s favorite album. Also, Jawbreaker is his favorite band.
Jawbreaker signed with Geffen Records and worked together with producer Rob Cavallo, who had received success producing Green Day's breakthrough album Dookie. Dear You was a noted departure in that Blake's singing and the guitar sound were cleaner; the album had been given a "radio-friendly" polish which their previous albums lacked. This seemed to be the final straw for many fans, who felt the band had betrayed them. Blake, however, has stated that the album kept the band alive, as they were on verge of breaking up after 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Despite a vigorous marketing push by Geffen, album sales were anemic in the wake of a post-Green Day market. However, the album was a critical success, bringing Jawbreaker's artistic maturity to a new audience. In 2004, the members of the group reacquired the rights to Dear You and successfully put the long out-of-print album back into circulation, with additional tracks including a more polished version of "Boxcar", their only music video ("Fireman"), and updated liner notes that include a picture of Kurt Cobain wearing a Jawbreaker t-shirt. Their hit Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault was released posthumously on EA Sports video game NCAA Football 06
After Dear You was released in September 1995, the band soldiered on for another year before calling it quits. One of their last shows was opening for the Foo Fighters in San Francisco, and is contained on posthumous release; Live 4/30/96.
Cult status
The band's cult status as the definitive nineties post-"emo" band has grown since its breakup. Chris Conley of Saves the Day has cited Jawbreaker as an influence to his writing. In 2003, a Jawbreaker tribute album, Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault was released on Dying Wish Records, and featured covers by 18 bands including Fall Out Boy, Nerf Herder, Sparta and face to face. Another tribute album, So Much for Letting Go, was released on Coptercrash Records. Also, a character in the punk rock webcomic Nothing Nice To Say continually refers to Jawbreaker as one of his favorite bands. An east coast band, Jawfaker, formed in 2006 with the purpose of performing Jawbreaker songs live.
Post-Jawbreaker
Singer Blake Schwarzenbach went on to form the New York City-based band Jets to Brazil, which has since broken up. Between bands, he found work as a freelance writer, even writing a few game reviews for GameSpot. He is now an adjunct English professor at Hunter College in New York City. Drummer Adam Pfahler lives in San Francisco and currently runs Blackball Records, which primarily keeps the Jawbreaker catalog in print. He has played drums in Bay Area pop punk band J Church and played in Whysall Lane with Richard Baluyut, the lead singer for Versus. Bassist Chris Bauermeister briefly played with Horace Pinker while he was working on a doctorate degree in History at Purdue. He has since moved to the state of Washington and plays bass for a band called Shorebirds with singer/guitarist Matt Cannino from the band Latterman.
Trivia
The voice-over on the song "Condition Oakland" from "24 Hour Revenge Therapy" is from Jack Kerouac's book "Lonesome Traveller," in a passage entitled "The Railroad Earth". It begins with:
"...everything is pouring in, the switching moves of boxcars in that little alley..."
The voice-over on the song "Jet Black" from "Dear You" is spoken by Christopher Walken, from the movie "Annie Hall", and begins with:
"I tell you this because, as an artist, I think you'll understand [...] Sometimes when I'm driving..."
Discography
Albums
- Unfun (1990), Shredder Records
- Bivouac (1992), Tupelo/Communion Records
- 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1994), Tupelo/Communion Records
- Dear You (1995), DGC
- Live 4/30/96 (1999), Blackball Records
- Etc. (2002), Blackball Records
- Dear You (Reissue) (2004), Blackball Records
EPs / 7 inches / splits
- Whack & Blite 7"(1989), Blackball Records
- Busy (1989), Shredder Records
- Jawbreaker / Jawbox split 7" (1991), Selfless Records
- Jawbreaker / Samiam split 7" (1992), No Idea Records
- Chesterfield King 12"(1992), Tupelo/Communion Records
- Jawbreaker / Crimpshrine split 7" (1992), Skene Records
- Fireman (1995), DGC
Further reading
- Bender, Alex. ""A Brief History of Jawbreaker"". The Complete Jawbreaker. Retrieved 2006-09-06.