missing blankey - was missing my blankey for a long while...and now it s back: the brilliant existentialist punk album.
Cass of 96 - I think everyone had this record in my senior year of high school: the punks, the straightedge kids, the burnouts, skaters... everyone. I wonder if all those freaks still like this album as much as I do.
The Best Band Ever - 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!
in my top 10 every year - some people will say this was the sell-out album that Jawbreaker made, but those people are just in awe (read: jealous) of how great this album is. I m so glad the band bought the record back from Geffen and re-released it. Now anyone can purchase one the best records of the 1995, 1996, 1997, etc...you get the idea. This seriously could be one of the only three albums i would take with me to my stranded island. After you get this record, go out and find the first Jets To Brazil album on Jade Tree Orange Rhyming Dictionary. These two Blake/Jawbreaker/whatever albums are his best. This has been on my top ten albums of every year, really!
Blake Started Singing - Until releasing this album, Jawbreaker was known for Blake s raspy vocals (much in the style of their friends in the Lookout! Records band Crimpshrine). The story going around was that Blake had been diagnosed with some kind of throat tumor or polyp and that he might not sing again. (Could have been a total urban myth for all I know.) Then they came out with this album and Blake s vocal style had completely changed! Many in the punk community were disappointed that Jawbreaker seemed to be going the way of (another Lookout! band) Green Day. But this album also opened them up to a whole new audience who may have found their earlier work too hard. I think this is a great album, very catchy, punk, but also pretty poppy. Since I already made the Green Day comparison, other than the major difference in their voices, this does sound a lot like the pop-punk Green Day made famous. Unfortunately for Jawbreaker, Green Day went on to become rockstar millionaires and Jawbreaker remained a small and poor band.If you like Jawbreaker s more melodic stuff, the song Fine Day from the Unfun Lp and the song Eye-5 from their Whack and Blite 7 are great melodic tunes.