Listening Booth

Jawbreaker: Etc.

Alas, the band known as Jawbreaker is no more, though fans of this powerful Cali trio (with subtle hints of East Coast influence) may strongly wish otherwise. Hard to believe three guys made all that wonderful noise, but they did, and all of it in the 90s, culminating in Dear You, the band's first and last album issued on a major label, Geffen Records.

Now comes Etc., (Blackball Records), the obligatory B-side retrospective collection spanning the band's all-too-brief career. Okay, we all know about these kinds of post-mortem releases--often hastily cobbled together, bland mosaics designed to extract one last coin from the coffin of bands whose funereal gatherings are slowly slinking back to their cars. In essence, barely more than soulless "products," antithetical to the whole punk philosophy. Sorta like a high-zoot, front-suspended Ti singlespeed. Nice to have, but not exactly sine qua non when cash is tight.

Is Etc. merely an aptly-titled product? Well, yes and...well...no.

No, because there's a lot of good stuff here and the collection offers a broad panorama of the changing flow of style from cradle to grave. There are hard gems among the cuts, such as the opening tracks "Shield Your Eyes" (a slower version of the one that appeared on Bivouac), "Equalized," "Caroline," and the pugnacious, vengeful, stomp-yer-ass-and-spit-in-your-eye "Better Half," all of which demo the unpolished, raw sound and bloody-throated vocals that were early JB trademarks. There is a "Boxcar" reincarnation of sorts, and though it sounds exactly like the original 24 Hour Revenge Therapy track, it still holds up well even under a growing layer of dust. Fans of The Psychedelic Furs and REM will find solid, rusty-nails-and-broken-glass tributes to each band. There's plenty of good outtake material here as well, such as the mea culpa anthem, "Kiss The Bottle," and the elegiacal "Sea Foam Green," an exemplar of JB doing what JB was so damn good at doing. And then there are the liner notes, with mini pics of the packaging artwork for some songs originally released as singles or splits (check out the graphic for "Better Half," originally titled "Mean Guy")--a welcome gratuity.

Yes, because there are a few eminently forgettable tunes here, most notably a sophmor-on-ic U2/Misfits/Vapors hodgepodge of songs that quickly drove you nuts in their original, separate incarnations. Just do your ears a favor and press the "skip" button when you hear the "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" drumbeat misdirection. A few songs are obvious fillers that, while not unlistenable, are much like the air inside that overly-packaged, economy-sized bag of chips...you just would not miss them if they weren't there.

Though Etc. is no Unfun, Bivouac, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, or even Dear You, it is well worth a listen for fans and those wondering just what the hell Blake Schwarzenbach was doing all those years before he hopped a jet to Brazil.
- Steve Spearman

Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three

If you don't know who Black Flag is I'm not going to hold it against you. I'm just going to suggest you do a bit of research and find out for your own sake. They were one of a handful of bands that helped define the American punk scene. That said, when I heard former Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins was putting together a compilation of Black Flag songs with a bunch of guest vocalists and Mother Superior (current Rollins Band) as the musicians, I wanted to get my hands on the thing as soon as it came out. Problem was, it was a benefit for some guys, known now as the West Memphis Three, that were in jail for the brutal murder of 3 little boys. Most music reviews don't need this kind of background, but this one does, so bear with me.

I'm a "hang 'em high" kind of guy - you murder someone, your next step should be the grave. I've also seen enough bullshit celebrity support of causes du jour that I didn't want my money going to support some sick, child-killing fucks. I wasn't quite ready to buy that Rollins or any of the other musicians got sucked into supporting these guys without some good reason. Rollins has a brain in his head, he's a thinker. So I decided to start checking things out on my own. Yeah, a lot of effort to go through before buying a CD, but I like to vote with my dollar, whether that means spending it or holding it back. First stop was the Free the West Memphis Three website. It's a site that is obviously biased since it's advocating the release of the three prisoners. It also contains a lot of information. This lead me to the book Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt which details the murders, the trials and looks to cover things fairly from both sides. It's over 400 pages and an engrossing read that warrants it's own separate review. When I was done I was convinced there was no way these kids (at the time they were all under 18) committed these murders based on the evidence. The Salem Witch Trials were a long time ago, but simple minds still exist and there are still a lot of people that believe rock and roll is the work of the Devil. I'll finish this background by suggesting you read this book.

So, after all of this we still haven't discussed the CD. Take 24 Black Flag songs, remake them with a tight band that practices these things until they are wired and add vocals from people who know how to front the mic. You've got a blistering series of songs that covers the short, fast, piercing punk classics of Greg Ginn. Keith Morris (ex-Black Flag, Circle Jerks) tears through "Nervous Breakdown", Iggy Pop's "Fix Me" sounds like he could have been one of the many BF vocalists. Motorhead's Lemmy does "Thirsty and Miserable" like he's living every word. Hank III does a version of "No Values" that like nothing you've heard before. You want more names? How about vocals by Neil Fallon (Clutch), Exene Cervenka (X), Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stones Age), Mike Patton (Tomahawk, Mr. Bungle, ex-Faith No More) and Ice T? There's not a bad cut on the CD and it's not just because of the singers. Mother Superior nails these songs, playing tight and hard. Ginn's smoldering guitar parts are more than done justice; you can feel the heat of packed bodies and the sweat of the pit in every note.
- Joe Whitehair

Record labels worth giving your money to.

Like a small custom frame builder gives you ride choices you can't find from the big boys, independent record labels offer music you won't necessarily get if you tune in to the corporate crap polluting the airwaves these days. Smaller labels tend to hand pick their artists based on what they like, not what they think is the next big thing. Here's a few that have worthy bands in their line-up. It's not a "best of" list and it's not complete by any means. It's just what happened to be on my mind or in the CD player when compiling the list. Go explore.
- Joe Whitehair

• Alternative Tentacles: Former Dead Kennedy's lead singer Jello Biafro's label. Only one DK release available because of legal action, but expect punk and protest recordings to dominate the roster.

• SST: Greg Ginn, Black Flag mastermind heads up this label. Bad Brains, Bazooka, Black Flag, fIREHOSE, Minutemen and the Descendents all have a home here. 'Nuf said.

• Kill Rock Stars: Lots of women who (punk) rock on this label. Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Sleater-Kinney. It's not exclusively female though. Good stuff all around.

• Ipecac Recordings: Greg Werckman (former label manager, Alternative Tentacles) and Mike Patton put out some noise. Home to Patton's heavy duty "Supergroup" Tomahawk as well as the Melvins and Skeleton Key.

• Gearhead Records: Hot rods and punk rock. Inhale the fumes of the New Bomb Turks, Turbo A.C. and the Hives.

• Protest Records: Cool concept - "All songs and designs on this site are free to share, not to sell". Side project by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.

• Dischord Records: DC centric label known best as being the home of Fugazi. Anti-corporate $10 shipped CDs.

• Morphius Records: Baltimore indie record company that also does manufacturing and distro for other indies.

• Matador Records: Wide range of stuff here - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Cat Power, Dead Meadow, Pavement, etc.

• Sub Pop In the past they've put out music by Nirvana, Afghan Whigs, Reverend Horton Heat, Supersuckers, Mudhoney, Soundgarden and L7 to name a few. Bigger these days, but still important.

• Jetset Records: Rock and roll - Flaming Sideburns, Jesus Lizard, Arab Strap, 16 Horsepower, Sahara Hotnights.