Jawbreaker was a San Francisco punk band with roots in Los Angeles, where members Blake Schwarzenbach and Adam Pfahler attended Crossroads High School together, and New York City, where Schwarzenbach and Pfahler met bass player Chris Bauermeister at New York University in 1988.

The band released several critically acclaimed albums on a variety of indie labels before signing to major label Geffen for Dear You. The band split up shortly after the polarizing release, but the album developed a significant following leading to its reissue a decade later.