Jawbox, Jackpot Plus! / Motorist
Featured Album
The sharp little single that came before For Your Own Special Sweetheart.
Most emo bands think they're simulating Rites of Spring. They wish. Rites songs are too musically detailed, too explosively sublime and frankly too butt-rocky for most modern emo acts. No, those bands, whether they know it or not, are aping Jawbox. Meaty power chords, propulsive, sometimes elliptical drumming, lyrics so oblique they could be language poetry (and therefore could mean just about anything), gas station jackets, second guitarist Bill Barbot's completely excellent demi-pompadour — Jawbox embodied it all. It doesn't hurt that founder J. Robbins has become a go-to producer for almost anyone even remotely related to '90s emo. (Just take a look at the production credits for about half of the albums on Jade Tree.) This sharp little single was the last thing they did for Dischord before jumping to Atlantic for (ironically) their best album, For Your Own Special Sweetheart.
