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Jawbox

Jawbox (1996)
Warner Music Group

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Contributed by: Jelone
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on November 11th 2008

Can we come together as a nation and say, “Hey Mr. President! Jawbox ruled! On an unrelated note, no blood for oil!”? For those not down with the D.C. sound, Jawbox was a post-hardcore band from the early `90s. Helmed by former Government Issue bassist J. Robbins, who’s unfortunately been in a lot of news articles lately in connection to his son’s health issues, the group turned out four mighty fine studio albums (and a great odds-n-ends collection) before going bust. “Selling out” has always been a major talking point in the punk community; it’s like our version of the abortion issue or something. It is in this sense that Jawbox is something of an anomaly: a Dischord-oriented band that not only got away with signing to a major label, but got better after doing so. A lot of folks like to talk up the band’s third album, For Your Own Special Sweetheart (das Org even gives it a perfect score), but the band’s best, in my humble opinion, didn’t come into view until 1996’s Jawbox.

Jawbox broke up not long after releasing their self-titled album, but at least they went out on a kickass note. While the group’s Dischord years were all about grinding nonstop, Jawbox found the group experimenting with tempos more. The album has an ebb and flow sequencing to it, starting off powerfully with “Mirrorful” and “Livid.” Then the vibe mellows out for the slow groove of “Iodine” before bursting into the manic intensity of “His Only Trade.” “Trade” is one of my favorite Jawbox songs ever, thanks to the frenetic drum part and overlapping vocals -- the song is so fast J. Robbins can’t sing all the words by himself. The off-time “Chinese Fork Tie” pounds out its own special place in my heart too, as do the crazy club-stompers “Won’t Come Off” and “Empire of One.” The record also boasts a great hidden track, a cover of Tori Amos’ “Cornflake Girl,” further confirming Amos’ place in rock music.

Robbins was always a little more interested in musical professionalism, and that’s why his production has always been a little bit cleaner. While I tend to favor lo-fi, a Robbins production has always sat well with me -- the guy knows what he’s doing. Same goes for his songwriting. So while some may criticize Jawbox for being the cleanest sounding Jawbox album, in my mind that’s not really much of a weakness. Robbins never overproduces his records, and he certainly doesn’t do so here with co-producer John Angello. The record may not have a Steve Albini-like rawness, but listeners do get all of the instruments presented with a powerful clarity.

Listening to Jawbox 12 years after its release, it’s bizarre to think that the band was dropped from Atlantic Records for a “perceived lack of singles.” The longest song is still under 4:30 in length. In my mind, the label really should have pushed to get Jawbox on the radio and them MTVs, because they were sitting on an album loaded with catchy, muscular rock gems.

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inagreendase (November 13, 2008)

Jawbreaker and Jawbox
Jets to Brazil and Burning Airlines

Damn, I don't know how I never picked up on this.

R3vengeTherapy (November 12, 2008)

I always found this little similarity to be humorous

Jawbreaker and Jawbox
Jets to Brazil and Burning Airlines

hmmm...

danpib08 (November 12, 2008)

Great band, great record. Novelty was my favorite record from them. J. Robbins went on to be one of the premier producers in all the land.

mikexdude (November 11, 2008)

Hahaha, even in ALT rock, it's just not a good album.

mattramone (November 11, 2008)

I fight for NIrvana and doesn't afraid of anything.

mattramone (November 11, 2008)

ALT rock. As in, "alternative radio."

Score is for everyone's abilities at reading comprehension.

chrisafi (November 11, 2008)

Hang on...

did mattramone just claim two of the best rock albums ever as Nirvana with (the pretentious Nirvana fan album) In Utero and Matthew Good Band's Beautiful Midnight?

The latter maybe one of the best Canadian albums of the 1990s and the first, a good early 90s grunge record - but best rock albums ever? Cummonn...

mikexdude (November 11, 2008)

Stunning.

Matt, In Utero is far from the best anything.

Banger (November 11, 2008)

This is such a great album. At the time it came out, it really felt to me like a culmination of all they had done before, the perfection of the Jawbox sound. Twelve years later I still feel this way. In fact, this album has aged very well, remaining more innovative, interesting and just plain entertaining than a lot of other albums that have come out in the intervening years, let alone in comparison to the other albums I was listening to back in 1996.

Few bands have finished while on the top of their game the way Jawbox did with this album.

Favorite song on the album: "Iodine," which is probably my favorite Jawbox song.

Make_Way (November 11, 2008)

Now, I consider myself quite the Burning Airlines fan, and have read about Jawbox for years. I've always wanted to check Jawbox out, and was wondering how different/similar the two bands were in sound. Any help?

Killtaker (November 11, 2008)

Love this record. Love this band. I got to see them multiple times in the 90s and I saw their last show in D.C. when they were at the Black Cat with Girls Against Boys. I didn't know at the time that they were breaking up but I loved that show.

mpc (November 11, 2008)

This is one of my favorite albums ever. I also like this better than FYOSS. I'm really glad I got to see them on tour for this (even though it was co-headlining with Nada Surf) since they broke up soon after. My favorite Jawbox song will always be Static though.

joeg (November 11, 2008)

while i still prefer "for your own special sweetheart," this is still a fantastic follow up. this band rules.

branden (November 11, 2008)

love this album so much. "desert sea" is just amazing.

mattramone (November 11, 2008)

Arguably the greatest alt rock album of all time, right up there with In Utero and Beautiful Midnight.