Record Rant: Alex Takes on P4K over Jawbreaker

By Alex Brenner

I’ll never understand music ratings. Especially, when I recently viewed a certain Chicago based music blog which gave one of my all time favorite records a 2.1 but gave Grizzly Bear a 9.0 and the new Joanna Newsome a 9.2. Some really hateful comments were also made about one of the most influential punk bands of our time, I’m talking about Jawbreaker. Front man Blake Schwartzenbach is hands down one of the most talented lyricists of our time. For real. If he was hanging out with T.I. or Lil’ Wayne he would be called the “Lyrical Miracle”.

Well, said Chicago blog does not feel the same way, stating his efforts even after Jawbreaker were “mojo-less soft rock”. Whatever skinny jeans. You would not know punk rock if it bought a plane ticket to Chicago and flew up there to beat you to death.

Unfun

Jawbreaker fans are die hard. They all have at least one tattoo of the band and there is some kind of code when they speak. It’s like an unspoken bond they all have, like we get “it” – whatever that is. Needless to say, what set Unfun apart from other pop punk releases at the time was the darkness of the music and the dense lyrics that would eventually become the band’s trademark. This would later appear on their classic swan song album Dear You (rated 2.1 by our folks in Chicago) with titles like “I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both” and “Jet Black”. Unfun is not my favorite Jawbreaker record but it’s so refreshing to listen to it again after all these years. The added bonus to this reissue is the 1989 7″ EP Whack & Blite which is perfect for the collector such as myself who must have everything.

From the first track “Want,” I was hooked on this band. With lyrics like “Used to let rumors do my work, they got around real well” followed by the simple “I want you,” how can you go wrong? Blake’s shredded vocals, the catchy but dark melodies and the pummeling drums of Adam Pfahler make this album the classic that it is. While some may call this the blueprint for “emo,” I beg to differ. I always equated Jawbreaker with bands like Jawbox or Samiam. I think it would be like calling Fugazi emo, and maybe for those blog writers who don’t know dick about punk (“You’re not punk and I’m telling everyone”) that would be a valid statement.

Jawbreaker never fit comfortably in the punk rock scene with their complex arrangements and intelligent lyrics. That is what elevated them above the rest. Blake always had a knack for poetic lyricism while remaining socially conscious with lines such as “You ride the fence but that fence divides, no side is still a side”.

Re-mastered, Unfun still retains the raw energy of its original release and still sounds vital today. The low end and the mid range frequencies are brought out front on this release making the band sound gigantic. Also there is a 24 page booklet with original artwork, unreleased photos and an alternate version of “Busy”. As mentioned before, along with the EP this is a very impressive reissue and worth it to any collector or even someone just getting into them. There has been internet buzz about a documentary film for the last three years (keep your fingers crossed). This record is still ambitious twenty years later and it really highlights what a truly brilliant and important band Jawbreaker was. You should also check out the “mojo-less” projects after Jawbreaker; Jets to Brazil was in my best of the decade list and we ranted about the December 15th Atlanta show by Blake’s new band Forgetters. We may have to rant more often to keep these witless hipsters in line.