Line Out - Comments on Dear You is the best Jawbreaker record. No, 24-Hour Revenge Therapy is. Or, the argument I had with myself on the way to work this morning.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:12:32 -0800

Shit Megan, this might be my favorite critical can of worms EVER! I've been wrestling with this one for, like, 8 years now, and I'm still equivocal about it (presently, I favor 24 Hour Revenge Therapy).

But I have to disagree with your main point, as I think the sequencing/cohesiveness of 24 Hour is greater than that of Dear You.

Also, "West Bay Invitational" is fucking brilliant! "It won't be the same without you, please come" is one of Schwarzenbach's sweetest romantic overtures, and the instrumental make-out break after "we hung our clothes up on the floor/and put our fait in a closed door" is swoon-worthy!

Comment by The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town

The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:19:45 -0800

Weird, I just had this discussion on another blog (I'm a short-timer at work, sue me).

What it boils down to is that 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is the best album, but it does not contain the best songs. 24 HRT provides the best overall experience, and has plenty of good "stand alones." However, the best Jawbreaker song, hands down, is "Kiss the Bottle" followed in no particular order by "Want," "Chesterfield King," "Caroline," "Accident Prone," "Gemini," and "Boxcar (which as you know is on 24HRT)."

The best NOFX album is either White Trash, Two Heebes and a Bean, or Punk in Drublic.

Comment by matthew fisher wilder

matthew fisher wilder — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:21:31 -0800

The correct answer is Unfun.

Comment by christopher hong

christopher hong — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:28:14 -0800

I have no strong opinion on which is the best, but "Oyster" is a shitty song that really sours my overall opinion on Dear You, despite its strong points.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:33:59 -0800

"Lurker II: Dark Son of Night" is the worst song on Dear You, Christopher. And, Pope, where is "Sea Foam Green" in your best songs list?

Comment by Andrew C.

Andrew C. — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:35:48 -0800

accident prone. nuff said.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:36:53 -0800

Or, shit, "Sea Green Foam" if you want to be a nerd about it...

Comment by The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town

The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:52:22 -0800

I remember really liking "Sea Green Foam" when I first heard it on the Ben Weasel Punk USA comp. Then I heard it again when Etc. came out and did not dig it much. It does have one of the best Jawbreaker lines though: "Now I need a guillotine to get you off my mind."

Comment by The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town

The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:54:30 -0800

And I'm not trying to be a name dropping jackass, I swear. I'm just a huge Jawbreaker dork.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:54:37 -0800

Totally one of the best Jawbreaker lines. I almost got a guillotine tattoo because of it...

Comment by gillsans

gillsans — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:00:23 -0800

I'm currently of the opinion that Dear You is the greatest Jawbreaker album, although I've gone back and forth many times. The problem I have with Dear You, like Megan, is that it contains many tracks that I don't like (I'm looking your way, Oyster). Quite often I find myself just listening to just the last half (iTunes has destroyed my attention span).

I tend to put Unfun in a different category. It's got quite a few of my favorite Jawbreaker songs (Fine Day, Busy, Gutless, Incomplete), but it's just different enough from the later albums from being in the running.

Actually, it kind of seems like the last 5 or so songs on all their albums are the most cohesive and the parts I really like to listen to.

Comment by gillsans

gillsans — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:01:56 -0800

Hey Mr. Pope, what about Shirt, You like that one?

Comment by The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town

The_Pope_Of_Chili_Town — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:02:44 -0800

Gillsans, I want to hug you while you work.

Comment by gillsans

gillsans — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:20:29 -0800

Sometimes you do...

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:21:37 -0800

It's weird to read this argument. I don't know many other Jawbreaker fans that ever really got into Dear You - I own it, but it's always just been "that last album"... could be that my advanced age of 32 made sure I didn't have any fond youthful memories attached to it.

There's some great songs on that record fro sure - but many of them were older songs they'd be touring with forever, so I was always a little sad to hear them get such an overly slick treatment. To me, Jawbreaker is very time-and-place, and that Dear You just didn't fit the bill.

24 Revenge is their best and probably the one I've listened to most, but I have fonder memories of older, less well written songs.

Comment by gillsans

gillsans — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:24:58 -0800

You're in my head like a dumb song...

And I believe we're all forgetting Rich and Sister, my favorite sort-of obscure Jawbreaker songs.

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:31:36 -0800

Also weird to see these top lists, as it is well documents (in my brain) that "Eye-5" is, although not their best, THEE most classic Jawbreaker song of all time. In the same vein, "split" (their addition to the double 45 No Idea issue) is one I never ever got sick of. Classic goodness.

Comment by Dougsf

Dougsf — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:34:39 -0800

Oops, "spilt" wasn't supposed to be in quotes... wtf was that song called? It was the 45 set that had Radon and Samiam and someones else - eesh it was a long time ago.

Comment by gillsans

gillsans — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:47:08 -0800

I have to admit that I didn't get into Dear You until after I was listening to Orange Rhyming Dictionary twice a day. (Shameful, I know--it just wasn't punk enough!). So yes, when it came out, it was kind of a sad epitaph for a once great band ruined by a major label. However, as my tastes matured, my appreciation grew.

Comment by Bryan in the UK

Bryan in the UK — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:31:50 -0800

As a general principle, I tend to think that song-to-song flow and overall album cohesiveness are much better indicators of a "best" record than are a few standout songs, no matter how astounding. Can a record really be considered a band's best if you have to scramble for the stereo each time your favorite song is about to end in order to avoid poisoning your mood with the out-of-place, mediocre track that follows?

In fact, some of my favorite records are the ones where you can hardly tell where one song ends and the next begins. Speaking of NOFX, they took this idea to its logical extreme (their specialty) in
'The Decline'. And I think that's one of their best records (definitely the one with the coolest physical CD, anyway).

Comment by Erik

Erik — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:48:33 -0800

Oyster totally stunk up the rest of Dear You. I was embarrassed just listening to that song. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy it is.

Comment by kim

kim — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:39:22 -0800

So, I ask everyone I meet what their favourite jawbreaker record is, and over the course of the last decade I've noticed an obvious girl/boy divide on this one. Boys tend to opt for 24 hour, whereas girls are firmly on the side of dear you, the big exception to this rule is the slightlier bookish boys, who tend to favour dear you also.
They're both amazing records, but only one features the genius stroke of jet black next to bad scene. just sayin'