Dear You

by

Jawbreaker

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I remember when Jawbreaker signed to a major label ... people were shocked and disappointed. I was one of them. I was a fifteen year old kid, though, and now wouldn't care so much. But I wrote the band back then. Adam, the drummer, took the time to write me back and explain things from their point of view. Ultimately, he told me there are more important things for people to worry about ... and I now definitely agree with him, although at the time I was upset.

After all these years, it BLOWS MY MIND that he took the time to write a fifteen year old, snot-nosed kid. I'm sure I wasn't the only fan he wrote back to, explaining the band's decision to sign.

That's how important their fans were to them. And that's how special this band -- and this album -- is to me.

And I still have the letter!

To be sure, there are moments of brilliance in Jawbreaker's only major lable recording. Lyrically, this is the darkest of them all. "Your floor is my Ceiling" from Jet Black tends toward despair at the same time "Million" displays frustration yet hopefulness. There are much poppier tunes on this one than any other Jawbreaker album like "Fireman" and "Bad Scene."

This is also the cleanest album from a production standpoint of any Jawbreaker release. To me, that's not a good thing. When I first bought it, it sounded like the mixers at Geffen went way overboard trying to find a commercially viable sound. (I can see the AOR guys sitting in a meeting. You know, they've got a great sound but can you make them sound more like, say, Nirvanna?) A lot of the raw power of the earlier recordings is missing on this one. Seeing the album's release and susequent treatment by Geffen and the band's demise always made me feel that the opening line of "Sluttering" was more telling about the state of mind in the band than anyone knew. ("Flattered that you think I warrant ugliness")

I had a chance to see some of these songs live and they were as good, if not better, than anything else Jawbreaker put out. (Incidentally, they played with a girl band Chinchilla, another amazing but obscure band. If you can find their only record, check it out.)

It's the least played of my Jawbreaker records (all) and a symbol of how a record company can destroy a great band.