Jawbreaker

Jawbreaker had a short but influential run in the ‘90s, spinning dark, existential poetry into sneering, fist-pumping punk. Frontman Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister and drummer Adam Pfahler formed the band in 1986 and got their feet wet in Los Angeles, where they released their scrappy, whip-smart 1990 debut album, Unfun. After relocating north to San Francisco, they experienced a major setback when Schwarzenbach nearly lost his voice to a polyp on his vocal cords. In the midst of this struggle, he began writing material for Jawbreaker’s third album, 1994’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, a fan fave that deconstructs the singer’s disillusionment with life, love and the punk scene. Upon its release, the trio—who had opened for Nirvana the previous year—was primed to be as big as fellow Bay Area firebrands Green Day. But they’d end up unleashing just one more emo opus with 1995’s Dear You, their first and only major-label album, before dissolving in 1996. Schwarzenbach went on to form various bands through the years, including Jets to Brazil, The Thorns of Life and Forgetters. By the time Jawbreaker reunited in 2017, their influence had made a deep impression on 21st-century pop-punk, thanks to bands like Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance.