With Schwarzenbach on guitar and vocals, Bauermeister on bass, and Pfahler on drums, the band gained recognition in the late eighties and early nineties for their melodic yet driven sound built on the foundation for Schwarzenbach's poignant, bleeding-heart lyrics and signature rasp.
The band's first full-length release Unfun was put out by Shredder in 1990. On this, the band stuck close to the sound coming out of their contemporaries in the nascent pop punk scene in their sound, with the exception of Bauermeister's prominent bass lines and Schwarzenbach's lyrics, at times walking the line of the melodramatic.
Unfun was followed by Bivouac on Tupelo/Communion in 1992. Bivouac proved thicker and darker - both thematically and melodically - yet served to elevate the band above a crowd of previously similar acts. This more ambitious release also artfully used pieces of found-audio, in what was becoming one of the band's signatures, weaving it in and out of the ten minute title track, "Bivouac."
Their third release, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, produced by the ubiquitous Steve Albini, unveiled a sparse pop-punk with more carefully crafted lyrics. This album also holds what has become arguably their best known song, "Boxcar."
Jawbreaker had seemed poised for critical and commercial success by the time of their fourth, and last album, Dear You. Despite a vigorous marketing push, Jawbreaker's album sales were anemic in the wake of a post-Green Day market, and was one of the causes leading to the end of the band's career in 1996.
The group recently reacquired the rights to Dear You and have successfully put the long out-of-print album back into circulation on Pfahler's label, Blackball Records.
The band's cult status as the definitive nineties proto-pop-punk band has grown since its breakup, and songs like "Kiss the Bottle" and "Jet Black" are referenced as influences by bands such as Sparta, Lucero, and Rocky Votolato. In 2003, a Jawbreaker tribute album, Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault was released on Dying Wish Records, and featured covers by 18 bands including Fall Out Boy, Nerf Herder, Sparta, and Face To Face.
Singer Blake Schwarzenbach went on to form the New York City-based band Jets to Brazil, who have also since broken up, and is now an adjunct English professor at Hunter College (CUNY). In the fall of 2008, he debuted his new band, Thorns of Life, formed with Aaron Cometbus of Crimpshrine and Pinhead Gunpowder on drums and ex-Gr'ups bassist Daniela Sea.
Drummer Adam Pfahler is currently drumming in San Francisco-based Whysall Lane, whose LP was released in 2006 on his own Blackball Records.
Bassist Chris Bauermeister has been playing in post-hardcore band Horace Pinker and pop-punk band Shorebirds, which was formed with Matt Canino, formerly of Latterman; Shorebirds split in the summer of 2008.
In 2021, Blake Schwarzenbach teamed up with Joyce Manor on a release.
In spite of the similar name, the band Jawbreaker Reunion is unrelated.
Ache
Jawbreaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The kind that make me look stupid. (Look like a fool)
Just keep reinventing myself.
It's move or die. (I change my form)
These days the people I love
are spread so far apart. (All out of reach)
It's a thin sheet
Across the face. (Cover me now)
That's pretty old.
I never felt like this before.
I say that every hour.
It's never going to be like it could have been.
Now it's just this room. (Window looks back)
You're a big part of it.
But I don't care. (You take the lead)
And can you really see me now
Like I made me? (Made me anew)
Just like anyone at all.
Safer alone.
So right, so wrong.
Another winter's coming on.
You win, you lose.
It's the same old news. (These things go wrong so often)
Pick up the phone
and punch your code.
Somewhere, sometime let me make you mine.
Lean your head on mine
Like you used to. (Used to your lean)
I don't mind if you're faking it. (Make it seem real)
I'm not asking the questions.
I'm not demanding the answers now. (Take what you give)
Right or wrong, just take me,
lead me on.
I'm going.
The lyrics in Jawbreaker's "Ache" convey a sense of desperation and a desire to reinvent oneself in order to survive. The singer is willing to engage in "desperate acts" even if they make him look foolish. He acknowledges that his loved ones are far away and that he feels isolated from them. He longs for someone to be close to him and yearns for a deeper connection. He laments that things will never be the way they could have been and that he is resigned to living in this lonely room. However, he is still willing to take the risk and reach out for connection even if it means being vulnerable.
The song seems to be about the difficulty of navigating adult relationships and feeling isolated. The singer is willing to take risks in order to connect to someone, even if the connection is not genuine. He admits that he is not asking for anything in particular and is willing to be led by someone else. He is just looking for someone to lean on and who will lead him through the challenges of life. The song is a poignant expression of the human need for connection and the struggle to find it in a world that often feels isolating and lonely.
Line by Line Meaning
I believe in desperate acts.
I am willing to do things that might make me look foolish.
The kind that make me look stupid.
I am willing to take actions that may make me appear ridiculous.
Just keep reinventing myself.
I need to keep changing my ways to stay alive.
It's move or die.
Unless I alter my ways, I might not survive.
These days the people I love
are spread so far apart.
The individuals I cherish are far away from me, beyond my reach.
It's a thin sheet
Across the face.
It suffocates me, and I need to cover myself.
That's pretty old.
I have heard this story before.
I never felt like this before.
These emotions are fresh to me.
I say that every hour.
That statement echoes in my head continuously.
It's never going to be like it could have been.
The future holds no promises of what might have happened if things had gone differently.
Now it's just this room.
Right now, it's just me and the four walls enclosing me.
(Window looks back)
The window is my only escape, but it only shows my reflection.
You're a big part of it.
You are a significant component to my world.
But I don't care.
Even though you have a significant role, I am indifferent.
(You take the lead)
You guide the way.
And can you really see me now
Like I made me?
Do you perceive me the way I have altered myself?
Made me anew.
I have transformed myself into something new.
Just like anyone at all.
I am precisely like every other person.
Safer alone.
I am better off being alone.
So right, so wrong.
I am uncertain whether I am doing the appropriate thing.
Another winter's coming on.
A new season is approaching.
You win, you lose.
Sometimes, you succeed and sometimes, you fail.
It's the same old news.
It's a recurring event.
(These things go wrong so often)
Mistakes are prevalent.
Pick up the phone
and punch your code.
Call me and enter your passcode.
Somewhere, sometime let me make you mine.
Allow me to possess you someday, anywhere.
Lean your head on mine
Like you used to.
Rest your head against mine, like you did in the past.
Used to your lean.
I am familiar with the feeling of you leaning on me.
(Make it seem real)
If you pretend, it can feel genuine.
I'm not asking the questions.
I am not bothering with any inquiries.
I'm not demanding the answers now.
I am not expecting any answers immediately.
Right or wrong, just take me,
lead me on.
Regardless of the outcome, guide me towards the path.
I'm going.
I am ready.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Eric Stefani
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind