I think I've finally learnt which band is Jawbox and which one is Jawbreaker - Jawbox are the one I have a couple of albums by and quite enjoy, Jawbreaker are the ones I watched a documentary about on Amazon Prime thinking they were Jawbox (it was reassuring that even Steve Albini couldn't remember which was which). The Jawbreaker documentary was interesting and I stuck with it, partly because they seemed to really hate each other, but partly because people really love them and, it turns out, I've never listened to them despite them being the sort of band I feel like someone would have played to me. But enough about Jawbreaker.
Like a lot of people (I suspect), I was introduced to Jawbox because Deftones covered Savory and their recording ended up on their 2005 B-Sides and Rarities compilation (as well as on the 2011 Covers LP). That recording also features most of the guys from Far, and I also had a recording of Jonah covering Savory on his The Three Sketchys compilation, so it's safe to say the song hit hard amongst that group of friends. I liked the song and made a mental note to check the band out; over the years I heard about For Your Own Special Sweetheart being a classic and landmark album.
In 2010 I finally stumbled across a copy - this is the 2009 reissue and Spillers had it in stock when I was back in town for some reason (it wasn't for a gig, so I'm not sure why I was in Cardiff that weekend in particular). I still hadn't actually heard Jawbox when I first played the record, but the covers of Savory and the general fanfare was enough to draw me in. Plus, it was on Discord, so it really couldn't go too wrong. Jawbox have a lot in common with Albini-related bands from Chicago but they have a far greater ear for a melody and throw in some incredibly catchy choruses; it's a far easier listen than anything Big Black recorded, which I see as a plus. It's still pretty abrasive (my wife made some strange faces at the start of FF=66 just now and left the room before the chorus kicked in). Of course, Savory is a great song, but so are Breathe, Motorist, Jackpot Plus! and U-Trau, mostly because of their soaring choruses. Reel feels quite different from the rest of the album, but is a nice moment.
Many years later I found a second-hand copy of My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents on cd in Oxfam and that reminded me that I really should have bought more Jawbox records by now. It's no surprise that the only blocker has been that I never ever see their albums in shops and forget to seek them out online. I've bought both Jawbox releases that I've ever seen, so that's a reasonable effort I suppose. I should try harder; I like their music and could happily listen to more of it.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 13
Cost: £11 new
Bought: Spillers Records, Cardiff
When: 17/04/10
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "This is not a psychotic episode" Side B: "This is a cleansing moment of clarity"
mp3s: Download code
