Jawbreaker (band)

Jawbreaker
Left to right: Pfahler, Schwarzenbach, and Bauermeister
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Punk rock indie rock alternative rock emo pop punk
Years active	1986–1996
Labels	Blackball Shredder Tupelo Communion DGC
Associated acts	Jets to Brazil J Church Horace Pinker Whysall Lane The Thorns of Life Forgetters
Website	myspace.com/jawbreaker
Past members	Blake Schwarzenbach Adam Pfahler Chris Bauermeister

Jawbreaker was an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996. The band is considered one of the influential acts of the 1990s emo movement. Lead vocalist and guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister, and drummer Adam Pfahler formed the band while students at New York University, later relocating to Los Angeles where they released their debut album Unfun (1990) through independent record label Shredder Records. Relocating again to San Francisco the following year, they released 1992's Bivouac through the Tupelo Recording Company and The Communion Label. Schwarzenbach's charisma and personal, frustrated lyrics helped to establish him as a cult idol, even as he underwent surgery to remove painful and voice-threatening polyps from his throat. Jawbreaker toured with Nirvana in 1993 and released 24 Hour Revenge Therapy in 1994, attracting the attention of major labels. They signed a $1 million contract with DGC Records and released 1995's Dear You, but the album's polished production and smooth vocals resulted in a significant backlash from the band's core audience. Internal tensions led to Jawbreaker's dissolution in 1996.

Following the breakup, the members of Jawbreaker were active in other projects including Jets to Brazil and Whysall Lane. Pfahler continued to issue previously-recorded Jawbreaker material through his Blackball Records label, and public interest in the band continued due in part to nationally-charting pop punk and emo acts openly indebted to Jawbreaker's sound. In 2004, Pfahler licensed the out-of-print Dear You from DGC's parent company Geffen Records and re-released it to positive response. He has since issued a remastered version of Unfun, and plans to remaster the rest of the band's catalog.