Jawbreaker - Dear You

Several weeks ago I received Jawbreaker’s Dear You in the mail and I thought, ‘Isn’t this album really old?’ You see, despite being into grunge and indie music in my youth, I never really got into Jawbreaker the first time around. I knew of them; I knew they were good, but they just never made it into my buying radar while in the store. Who would have thought that 10 years later I would come across the band again, and this time I paid attention! Let’s face it, unless you’re like me and never gave the band a chance, you probably aren’t going to buy a Jawbreaker record just because they added a couple songs and re-released it ten years later. Undoubtedly, this re-release is aiming at the new wave of pop-punk and emo kids who want to take a break from Saves the Day and go back and listen to the roots of indie music. Like it or not, Jawbreaker played a huge part in breaking indie or emo music to the masses, and Dear You marked the band’s first and only release on a major label. See, back then indie bands didn’t sign to major labels, and when Jawbreaker did and supposedly got a million dollar deal, some of their fans called them sellouts and split. The resulting record is clearly not the band’s best, but as a new Jawbreaker fan, it was sufficiently good to draw me in and get me to dive into their back catalogue. There isn’t much that is new to be said about releases such as this. If you are a die hard Jawbreaker fan, then you probably already bought this. If you are looking to discover what the band is all about, then pick up Dear You and give it a try. I can guarantee you that if you like it, you are going to love the rest of the band’s releases. [www.blackballrecords.com]