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.
Friendly Fire
Jawbreaker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You took it hard. Through a one-way door hinged high
on doubt. No ins, no outs.
I like my clothes. Don't want to grow.
I'll wait around 'til you say go.
The lights were off when I got home.
Black room, blue phone. Don't I know your name?
Weren't we almost friends?
doubt. If this is principle,
I'm dropping out. You demonize so you don't look so
bad. You wouldn't take what you couldn't have.
My back is warm with your friendly fire.
I know you're trying. Could you please aim it higher?
So alone I wrote, I wrote this will.
I will decline. This fish ain't big. This pond is small. So small of mind.
In Jawbreaker's song "Friendly Fire," the singer reflects on a broken friendship and the hurt caused by the other person's actions. The verse "Walked beyond the fence, played outside our yard. You took it hard" describes how the singer ventured out of their comfort zone, possibly growing as a person, and their friend was unable to handle it. The next lines, "Through a one-way door hinged high on doubt. No ins, no outs," suggest that the friend's perspective was limited, and they were unable or unwilling to see the situation from different angles.
The chorus, "You demonize so you don't look so bad. You wouldn't take what you couldn't have. My back is warm with your friendly fire. I know you're trying. Could you please aim it higher?" highlights the singer's frustration with their friend's behavior. The friend is projecting their insecurities onto the singer, painting them as the enemy, and causing emotional pain. The singer recognizes that their friend is not inherently bad, but they are misguided and could benefit from being more introspective.
The final verse, "So alone I wrote, I wrote this will. I will decline. This fish ain't big. This pond is small. So small of mind," reveals the singer's decision to move on from the friendship. They have recognized that the friend is unable to grow with them and that they need to leave the small-mindedness behind. Overall, "Friendly Fire" is a poignant reminder of the importance of supporting our friends' growth and being careful not to project our insecurities onto others.
Line by Line Meaning
Walked beyond the fence, played outside our yard.
We went beyond our comfort zone and tried something new, but you didn't like it.
You took it hard. Through a one-way door hinged high on doubt. No ins, no outs.
You were upset by our actions and closed yourself off to the possibility of understanding. You refused to let anything in or out.
I like my clothes. Don't want to grow. I'll wait around 'til you say go.
I'm comfortable with who I am and don't want to change. I'll respect your feelings and wait until you're ready to move forward.
The lights were off when I got home. Black room, blue phone. Don't I know your name?
I came back to a dark, empty place and realized I don't even know your real identity anymore.
Weren't we almost friends? Guess that depends. Take some benefit with all your doubt.
We had a connection at one point, but it's unclear if we can still consider ourselves friends. You seem to gain something by being skeptical of others.
If this is principle, I'm dropping out. You demonize so you don't look so bad.
If your behavior is based on some kind of belief system, I don't want any part of it. You try to make others look bad to make yourself feel better.
You wouldn't take what you couldn't have.
You are unable to accept anything that you cannot control or obtain.
My back is warm with your friendly fire. I know you're trying. Could you please aim it higher?
Your attempts to reach out and connect are coming off as hurtful criticism. I understand your intentions, but I need you to communicate in a more positive and productive manner.
So alone I wrote, I wrote this will. I will decline.
I felt isolated and wrote down my thoughts and plans. Ultimately, I will choose to remove myself from this negative situation.
This fish ain't big. This pond is small. So small of mind.
This situation is not important in the grand scheme of things. However, your unwillingness to open up and accept new experiences is limiting your mindset.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind