Jawbreaker put out a bunch of Indie records while I was
working in college radio and I have absolutely no memory of ever hearing about them. In
1995 they released their major label debut, Dear You, sending their superfans into a tailspin of dissolution. I, however, really enjoyed the effort.
Polished was such a dirty word back in the day. Taking your
lo-fi Indie Rock DIY band over to a major record label and using the extra cash
to record an album that was a little more “polished” than your previous work
was the equivalent of a politician going on Meet The Press and saying, “I think
Hitler was a pretty cool guy, like a German Elvis.” (FIY There was a Hellbilly band
called Elvis Hitler and if I could ever find their album with “Booze Party,” I would
just kill myself.)
Regardless, Jawbox basically went on Meet The Press and
professed their love for Hitler, with the album I’m about to listen to, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, yet the
superfans let that slide cause the record’s so fucking good. The duality of man.
It’s quite a quandary for a band. Stick with what you know
and keep cranking out the dirty sounding Punk Rock, OR take some money and
reach for the stars! You can’t really fault a band for wanting more.
Some bands stayed Indie and either faded out or kept it going for a while. Some
bands took the money and made it to the stars!
Look at Ani Difranco. She stayed fiercely independent, still
puts out music and still packs houses. Her popularity has definitely waned since the days she was gracing the cover of Rolling Stone, but she did her own thing her way and rules her little corner of the music world. At a radio station in Buffalo, I used to work with her brother. He was a total wiener salesman. Weird, right? Nice guy, but a wiener. I'm getting off track. The point is... Jawbreaker took the money, put out Dear You, and then promptly broke up. An all too familiar tale in the music industry.
I used to like most of this album, but nowadays all I want to
hear are “Accident Prone,” and “Stuttering.” I still do… two great songs! Sadly, the rest sounds a little dated now.
I forgot one of the Jawbreaker guys went on to form Jets To Brazil and I can't remember if there was anything from them I liked. I'll definitely listen to them down the road this year.
I used to have a crush on Jawbox’s Kim Coletta. Look at how
cute she was! She used to look like that wizard chick from those movies.
Let’s see if my memory is worth its weight in salt. I doubt
it. But in my mind this is how I fell in love with Kim, Jawbox, and For Your
Own Special Sweetheart.
In the fall of 1993 I went to NYC for a big music
convention. I left on Friday November 5th. I know this because as the plane
took off for the Big Apple, Joe Bagodonuts and I were talking about the Nirvana
show that was happening that night in Buffalo .
We were sadly going to miss it. “We’ll have plenty of chances to see Nirvana,”
I said to Joe and he agreed. PFFFFFFT! Never had another chance! I NEVER SAW
NIRVANA PLAY!
Anyway, during that weekend we saw a showcase that Jawbox
was on. If you pointed a gun to my head I’d say it was at Irving Plaza
For Your Own Special Sweetheart wasn't coming out until
January, but we knew the set was going to be heavy with songs off of it. I wasn't really concentrating on any one thing because I was “in the zone.” I was
grooving to the band, checking out the crowd from the balcony, trying to look
cool, keeping abreast of beer orderings… the usual stuff. Then I saw Kim
Coletta standing there with her bass. I took notice of her during “U-Trau” and almost on cue, she played the little bass solo breakdown in the middle of the song. It was like she was saying, “Hi Brad. You know how cute I always thought you
were.” I was mesmerized! All the guys were wearing suits, so Kim was wearing a
dark dress that was kind of formal and kind of sexy. Like a wool baby doll
dress with a white thing in the front? Fuck, if I know what women call the
dresses they wear. Like a hot Wednesday Adams dress.
Whatever… If I was the kind of man who believed in angels,
then what’s what I’d say she was, an angel dropped from post-hardcore Heaven.
I introduced her to my mother after the show, and she was so
gracious. She handled all my mom’s dumb questions with a great big smile and a
gentle ease. We laughed about that on the walk over to the Gramercy Tavern,
where we had a quiet late supper. We dined on foie gras and drank to the future, then retired to my suite at the Waldorf. We made sweet sweet love until the sun was coming up
over Manhattan . In that early morning light, I remember Kim holding me in her arms like a bass and telling me she would take care of me forever. A tender and magical moment.
I woke up around noon in my friend Gina Galley’s shoebox
apartment, sleeping on the floor next to Bagodonuts. And that’s exactly how I remember that evening. I may have embellished some stuff.
Top notch album from Jawbox! Listening to this record again
reminded me how great it is and that I should be listening to more than just
“Savory!”
I had scheduled The Appleseed Cast’s new disc here, but I didn't realize it’s not out for another week or so, I dunno. I switched to
their album Two Conversations, although I didn't actually listen to it. I just
kind of hunt and pecked around for annoying choruses and then listened to
“Fight Song.”
A really great song, but there is no place to listen to
it. You can only listen to this song when you’re alone, when the band plays it
live, or in the HBO promo it was in a bunch of years ago. That’s it. Just try
and throw it on with your girlfriend in the car. She’ll be like, “What the
fuck?” Put it on at a BBQ with your friends and they’ll say, “What the fuck?”
I wonder if it was ever played at a Wedding?
That's all I got today.
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