jawbreaker

dear you (expanded)

‘Having the opportunity to receive a brand new Jawbreaker release prior to its scheduled release date is a titillating experience for which I have waited since my budding teen years. Simply hearing the news of a new Jawbreaker album would have been enough for me.

That’s what I thought in 2002 when “Etc.” hit the shelves. The posthumous compilation of rarities, demo and live versions was nothing shy of disappointing. Like most releases of its sort, the songs were either awful or of awful quality. Though the band had broken up years earlier, this album only seemed to be the final, anguishing nail in the coffin.

Jets to Brazil did not prove to be much relief for many of Jawbreaker’s diehard fans. Those who took solace in the part rockabilly, part straightforward rock of this incarnation, still could not help but miss the edgier parts of the past.

“We’re killing each other by sleeping in,” sang Blake Schwarzenbach on “Dear You’s” opener, “Save Your Generation,” but it couldn’t help but seem like that’s exactly what was going on. What happened to the fire? What happened to the energy?

Maybe heroin. Who knows?

In a previous interview, Schwarzenbach let out pent-up backlash. “When do I get to be curmudgeonly to the Jawbreaker fans?” he asked me. “It’s been over a decade.”

Later on in the same interview, he repented, admitting that he missed the fight-for-your-right punks that swooned to his old band.

In truth, he seemed confused about what he wanted. He seemed unsure if a Jawbreaker reunion would ever happen but he did not vehemently oppose the idea.

Nevertheless, the band members did not want to leave their fans empty-handed. So they purchased back the rights to “Dear You” and re-released it with a few bonus songs at the end.

The previously out-of-print album was selling for around $50 on Ebay. Now, a remastered copy is available at a fraction of the cost, but the inevitable question is: is it worth it?

Yes, yes it is. Though the band grew their roots on rougher ground with albums like “Unfun” and “Bivouac,” they eventually polished up their sound after Schwarzenbach’s throat surgery. “24 Hour Revenge Therapy” was Jawbreaker at its peak to some. It was a bit cleaner and more thought-out than the band’s previous ventures.

When the band signed with DGC, their end was just about clear. Before breaking up, they recorded “Dear You,” which very well may have been a few years ahead of its time.

It foreshadowed the pop punk revolution, but did it with more dignity and self-respect – while still writing self-degrading lyrics – than anything that has been popularized since.

The re-release only replants the band as that which saved a generation of music and fans alike. It may not guarantee any future activity under the Jawbreaker label, but at least it’s a cheaper and better rendition of an album that’s well worth the listen.