Jawbreaker - Bivouac reissue

Ah, Jawbreaker! While we continue the waiting game for the documentary, Adam and his Blackball Records have continued the Jawbreaker reissue initiative by releasing a remastered version of the second full-length to commemorate the two decades that have elapsed since its initial release on Communion/Tupelo.

I'm not going to stoop to the level of telling you why you should be buying this record, but will inform the uninformed that the non-album tracks that previously appeared on the Chesterfield King 12" are included, along with period photographs and art mockups in booklet form.  Sweating collector nerds should be informed that said 12" is also available again. Bivouac is also available in oversized black circular form, should you be so inclined.

Step lively. Here's a link to the Blackball web presence.

R

Tiltwheel - The High Hate Us

For one hell of a great band, it's certainly hard as hell to get those Tiltwheel guys to drop a record. Granted, there is a strong argument to be made that Davey is Tiltwheel (with all respect to J. Wang) and that maybe it's him that's dragging his heels. He's learned from the best, as the comradeship with Team Leatherface has not fostered much in the way of recorded output. Of course, the new(est) D4 record took forever, too.

Recent times found Leatherface dropping their latest and now the unholy trinity has been completed with the release of The High Hate Us. It's on A.D.D. and it is almost worth the wait. Not eleven years worth of wait (and yes, I know about the OWTH split) but still pretty great. Davey is still the best worst guitar player and songwriter out there. There is a hell of a lot of Bivouac-era Jawbreaker in the Tiltwheel sound and it is delivered in the power trio paradigm that all the best music comes in. The song titles are more than a little much (buy it and see), but the songs themselves are top-notch. Vinyl nerds will have to wait a bit, as something has gone awry in production, but you can get it from the expected MP3 vendors and on CD from A.D.D. here. Do that now and harass Davey about those fools hauling their carcasses out East.

Oh, and for the record: no they don't. Not by a long shot.

R

Jawbreaker - Unfun reissue

So I got Unfun for the first time when I asked for the new Jawbox at the Music Shack on Central Ave in Albany. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the mistake, but one listen to the opening track (Want, for the ignorant) was enough to make me consider the switch divine providence. Unfun was the first full-length for our heroes, initially released on the now-defunct Shredder Records. The cd that I bought back then appended their Whack And Blight EP on the end for good measure.

As it has been 20 years since this dropped, the Adam Pfahler curated Blackball Records has remastered and reissued Unfun, with the W&B ep and 7" mix of Busy added for good measure. In the event you were wondering: yes it holds up just fine and no I won't be offended if you stop reading now to purchase this immediately. In fact, here's a link to Blackball to expedite the process. Thank me (and them) later.

Recent times have found Blake helming forgetters. Chris is Olympia and plays with Mutoid Men. Both have lots of post-grad education under their belt. In addition to being a Dad and running Blackball, Adam still runs Lost Weekend Video in San Francisco and has played in J. Church, Whysall Lane and The Moons. In somewhat related awesome esoterica his wife Lydia worked at the DC Haagen Dazs with Ian MacKaye and Henry Garfield. Small world, the punk world. Despite their untimely passing over a decade ago, the legacy of Jawbreaker is one to be learned, loved and respected. Buy their records old and new and pray that they don't ruin that legacy by reuniting.

R

Live: forgetters at Market Hotel 12.11.9

Historically, there is always a quality rock show on the same night as my shitty job's holiday party. More often than not, I would find myself kind of torn up in some vintage tuxedo at a Slobberbone show or whatnot. This year I was more reasonably dressed, but to keep it interesting the show this year was like 18 degrees and in Brooklyn. Good times. Given the fact the trip necessitated a train, were it not forgetters, I probably would have bailed, but onto the JMZ I went in search of the mysterious Market Hotel. That's a place that's flying well under the radar, but luckily I was able to find the non-descript Steppenwolfian doorway and make it in. This show was the kick-off of the first forgetters tour and as a result I would have thought that it would have been more crowded, but it was pretty managable. I got there just as Chastity Wig were wrapping and carved out some real estate while the kids set up.

forgetters were up in short order. Blake's Keats obsession and the snobbery thereattached were in full effect. I'd say that there were easily three random between-song drops, in between condescending first-hand reports that BS was now a bartender and challenges to the audience regarding their ability to name NPR correspondents. It certainly made this old guy long for the "rabbit, rabbit" banter of shows past. We got about a half-hour of music this night, with at least a couple tunes that were purported to be released out on a forthcoming 7", maybe on Don Giovanni? The songs are decent, especially the last tune that they played as a pseudo-encore, and I'm pretty stoked to hear them recorded. That said, in retrospect, even I might be getting over my Blake obsession. The ex-member factor looms large here and if the songs don't put outweigh the stage banter, it could be another short tenure for forgetters. In the meantime, keep track of their future touring and recording aspirations here.

R

Live: Whiskey Trench at Bar Nine 12.6.9

So, would someone please explain to me me the logic in having a band come from Montreal to play that has a fairly limited draw, posting a time that they are going on, then having them go before the announced time, not because the place was packed and people were clamoring, but to two people and the bartender? I showed up at 10, again the posted start time, to see Whiskey Trench play five songs, one of which was a Jawbreaker cover. They sounded decent, but it was a severe bummer.

R

Thorns of Life: Live @ Gilman 1.31.9 live download

What's more to say, really? Thorns Of Life have been playing some shows on the West Coast recently, and assumably recording a new record. They played Gilman on 1/31 and someone made a pretty good recording of it. My boy Eric hooked me up with it, but there's a link off the Blackball message board, too. It's a good show, better than the one I saw at Disgraceland, I'd say. There are some warts, but they are a new band and seem to be sounding better with every show. Now lets get some of those Thorns back in NYC already. The link for the Gilman St. show download is here, for the time being. Get it while you can. It rocks.

R

Shorebirds - It's Gonna Get Ugly pt. II: the review

It's been deposed of late by The Hold Steady, but in past years the heights of my obsessions in the rock world have revolved around my dear departed Jawbreaker. I heard a lot of the first Jawbreaker record quasi-osmotically by living next door to (the only JS-NYC follower) David's then-girlfriend my freshman year of college and was re-introduced to Unfun (and the Whack and Blite EP) by whatever member of Stigmata sold the Shredder reissue to me by mistake instead of the first Jawbox record at Music Shack. How any ear-possessing humanoid could hear the opening Want and not fall in love with Jawbreaker or Chris Bauermeister's bass playing is beyond me.

My love for all the post-Jawbreaker projects has lead me down a lot of paths (Jets To Brazil, Horace Pinker, Whysall Lane) but the most satisfying of late has been Olympia, Washington's Shorebirds. They have split already, leaving a couple 7"s and this full-length It's Gonna Get Ugly. Christ, is this a good fucking record. This is Top 10 for 2008 for sure over at JS-NYC. The band featured Jawbreaker bassist Chris Bauermeister and was helmed by ex-Latterman guitarist Matt Canino, who also released it on his own Rumbletown label. He also appears to be a bike punk, which will never detract from a band in my eyes. I need to go back and check out the Latterman stuff, but between this record and the Iron Chic demo, I haven't had a chance to look back. If both Matt and Phil were bringing their A game like they seem to on these releases, I can see why kids were so bummed when Latterman split up.

So about It's Gonna Get Ugly. It's 12 songs in 27 minutes and all of it, if I may use technical jargon, fucking rips. Bauermeister is mixed way up front, barrelling through the tracks like a freight train. Canino's got a good Wollard meets Smalley voice that suits the gritty music nicely. Frankly, I found most of the Oly kids back in the day to be pretty fucking irritating, but if this is the kind of punk rock that's coming out of the deciduous rain forests these days, you can sign me up. I'd put them up there with Banner Pilot and the late Cardinal Sin.

From where I'm sitting, the best track (and, believe me, that is saying something) on It's Gonna Get Ugly is The Ballad of Marvin Heemeyer, a man who was probably on Andrew's radar from the get-go, but is new to me. Either way, props to the late Mr. Heemeyer and his family. That's a hell of a way to go out. It's a bummer that Heemeyer and Shorebirds are gone, both parties were formidable juggernauts. You can see footage of Heemeyer here. Check it out, then pick up the musical equivalent from the good folk of Rumbletowne here. Vinyl only, which is a silly is it is admirable. I can see going the Shellac route of releasing the vinyl before the cd, but this is a record that really needs to be heard, even if it is posthumously.

Canino has hit the ground running and already formed a new band called Reviver that I'm pretty eager to check out. Sadly, they appear to be so DIY as to not have a web presence, but if anyone tracks it down, dash off a missive, will ya?

R