Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Review

Jawbox

For Your Own Special Sweetheart (Atlantic)
by Paul Lee

The name is Jawbox, and they’ve busted out of the political monster city of Washington, DC and have been at it since ’89. Four cacophony creators who tear into your head like a drill and twist your brain. Off-beat licks, grinding punky guitar and gatlin-gun rhythms are the ammo of choice for Jawbox. Some songs will make the paint peel off of walls, and other songs will make your dog start to boogie on the floor.

Jawbox has done their time on the ever-famous independent label Discord (yeah, yeah, so it’s the home of Fugazi, enough about them already!) and landed a deal on Atlantic. They haven’t lamed out one bit going for the major option, For Your Own Special Sweetheart tears the sound waves to shreds.

Somehow, Jawbox finds that weird and obscure little area between braininess and being pissed off. They have a wide blend of emotions and styles to toss into the mix. They use a combination of ripping chords, guitar noise, and sparkling riffs at the forefront of their attack. Add to that some bottom heavy bass playing, heavy drums, and vocals riding the line between harsh and melodic. Imagine a band that can sound as wild as Helmet and as melodic as REM. At times, they even vaguely remind me of The Pixies. This may give you an idea of Jawbox’s sound, but there is still more.

The buzz is happening for Jawbox as they make their way to the top of the murky musical surface. But don’t let their “critical acclaim” put you off, they’re not truly friendly to feeble corporate radio. Live, they sear the stage. Their vigor is unstoppable as all four members are possessed by the energy of their tunes. With a two guitar assault, Jawbox blast their audience into a state of content submission as they did at The Middle East on March 19. There wasn’t a force on Earth that could’ve stopped them that night.

They even did their new single, “Savory,” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, decked out in colorful suits and ties (and bassist Kim Coletta in her dress). Not a band to do the expected. For the brief three or so minutes that they were up there, they set flames to the stage. Conan’s hair was standing on end. Kind of ironic that Jawbox isn’t really radio friendly, but they got into millions of unsuspecting households, much to many’s chagrin. As I strolled through two Newbury Comics locations in one day, I was hit by Jawbox’s distinctive roar. It seems they are getting some sweet notoriety and attention. This recognition is for a good reason, as this quartet from the nation’s capital will continue to twist heads and break necks. I will actually condone the hype and continue to do a lot more listening to For Your Own Special Sweetheart.