Very Good Songs: Jawbreaker

Every pesky music nerd worth his salt has a band or two they’re always pushing on their friends. I’m totally that guy. Just spend time with me after a couple beers and I’ll start recommending away and you’ll start inching away. There are three acts that had their heyday in the 90s punk scene that I will gladly tout to no end: Samiam, Seaweed and my favorite band of the decade, the mighty Jawbreaker.

I’ve spun “24 Hour Revenge Therapy” hundreds, dare I say, thousands of times since 1994 and I never tire of it. It’s a blistering and heartfelt punk record with poetic songwriting and a distinctive raspy delivery that you’ll either love or not love so much. I consider it a perfect album.

The NYU-born trio — lead vocalist and guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister, and drummer Adam Pfahler — put out four stellar studio albums plus a solid B-sides collection and a not-so-great live album. I loved the musical progression they made during their all too short career, raw to refined without ever losing the DNA that made them great.

Quick Takes:

• Jawbreaker’s “Chesterfield King” is the greatest punk love song of all time.
• Blake is the best punk frontman of his day. Charming, silly, self-deprecating and succinct.
• Some dweebs hate their last record “Dear You” because it’s too polished and on a major label. They are wrong. It’s fantastic.
• They opened up for Nirvana on a string of dates and dweebs also got mad at that.
• My current favorite Jawbreaker songs are “The Boat Dreams From The Hill,” “Sleep,” “Do You Still Hate Me?” and “Sea Foam Green.”
• I had a Jawbreaker t-shirt with their name spelled out in Scrabble letters. I miss that shirt so damn much.
• Make sure to check out Jets to Brazil, Blake’s post Jawbreaker band. “Sweet Avenue” is a beaut!

I put together a little “best of” below to whet your whistle. Please give it whirl. It’s time to break some jaws!

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