Jawbreaker - Unfun

If I was someone else, I'd comment on how integrated I am with this album, and as such, a purely objective review might be difficult to accomplish. Unfortunately, my reviews are intelligible at best, so let's not pretend my relation to this album will make this post any worse. I know I've mentioned it before, but mid-high school, I transitioned out of a 2-year strong, pure grind/death/crust/powerviolence "phase" using early emo as my aeroplane. Man I hate that song. "Music Is My Aeroplane", I mean. Was that the Red Hot Chili Peppers? Bleeeeaaahhhh. But yeah, somehow I stumbled upon emo as a non-putrid cultural force and became completely enamored with it. Being a soggy sack of angst at the time, the emotional chord changes, introspective lyrical matter, and raw vocals were just the outlet I was looking for, and shortly thereafter, I found Andy Radin's "fourfa" website.
As such:

"Jawbreaker - Unfun and Bivouac LP/CDs. Beautiful, angsty pop-punk with a huge minor-key edge, deep, incisive lyrics that cut right to your soul, and a keen sense of when to relax, when to build up, and when to just blast it out at full power and scream."

Pairing that descriptor from the "emocore" page with my friend Tess' name-drops of the band, I figured tracking down Jawbreaker's discography was in my best interests. Oddly enough, I found a copy of Unfun just a week after in the used bin at ye olde corporate music megastore, "and the rest is history". I don't know why, but that cliche has always annoyed me. The "history" includes me listening to the album in question constantly for several months on the bus, at work, during lunch, and whenever else. While the music here is definitely indebted to the emocore sound from DC hardcore's wake, it's real significance for me lies in making pop-punk finally seem like an appealing concept. Unfun is simultaneously the most gruff and the most bouncy thing in the band's catalog, and sounds sorta like the template for every non-folk punk band you hear labeled as "orgcore" nowadays. If you're partial to that gritty, soulful, melodic punk style and don't have this, make it a priority to procure a reissue while you can. Remember a few years ago when Hot Topic was going to be the sole purveyors of this album's reissue? It's hard to believe, but that was actually on the table for a while. Oof.

Unfun is an incredible batch of songs, though; every track is fantastic, with the opener ("Want") being the first love song I ever really related to. Songs about heartbreak or infatuation are one thing, but a song about shyness and a desperate need to articulate your feelings about someone really hit me hard at the time. I feel like I should also mention that Jawbreaker has a knack for throwing in long, built-up, instrumental endings to some of their songs ("Fine Day" and my favorite, "Busy", for example) that really enhance the songs more than closing with a chorus ever could. Also, Samiam totally burgled that concept from this album. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't steal the songwriting capabilities with it. AW SHIT. IN THE RAW. But its all really accessible up until the B-side opens with the darker "Softcore" and "Driven", but they grow on you with a few listens.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zyzy5cdy00w

I'm not sure if I'd call this my favorite Jawbreaker album (it's admittedly difficult to decide considering Bivouac and 24 Hour Revenge Therapy exist), but it's definitely up there, with or without the buckets of nostalgia I hung off it. I don't know why exactly, but this always felt like the band at their most honest and straight-forward. I can't exactly supply examples to support this claim, as it's sort of a vibe, but maybe you'll notice it too if you're familiar with the rest of their albums. Plus, whenever I've talked about how much I like this album, people tend to use the word "underrated" to describe it. If you're desperately seeking indie cred because only superficial bullshit can validate you, this is your Jawbreaker of choice. Or the Busy EP, I guess. ONLY the Busy EP.

Oh. Did I mention the lyrics? They're good. Read 'em I guess.