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Having just posted interviews with singer/guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach and drummer Adam Pfahler about Blackball Records‘ 20th anniversary reissues of Jawbreaker’s Bivouac and Chesterfield King, you probably could have guessed that bass player Chris Bauermeister would be next. Read on, and then order the thick, pristine vinyl or beautifully remastered CD for your listening pleasure. They come out TODAY, so you can pick them up at your favorite local record shop as well. I love all of Jawbreaker’s albums, but these two releases are my favorites. The guys were playing out of their minds, mixing post punk craft, literary but raw lyrics, and noisy-but-beautiful sadness at its roughest. Here’s what Chris has to say about them…
"This is circa 1991 at our Sycamore Street apartment. Note Zen Arcade and old-school tape recorder for sampling off TV." - Adam Pfahler
The 20th anniversary reissues of Jawbreaker’s Bivouac LP and Chesterfield King EP come out tomorrow. On the heels of our previous dialogue about the remastered vinyl, Jawbreaker’s drummer and Blackball Records honcho Adam Pfahler set me up with singer/guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, who was kind enough to discuss the albums, revisit the time period, and hash over old cover songs. And once again, Adam provided vintage Polaroids.
Bivouac photo shoot Polaroid by Lance Hahn
On December 11, Jawbreaker‘s Chesterfield King EP and Bivouac LP are being re-released on vinyl and in digital formats. I’ve been lucky enough to preview the remastered tracks and they’re extra heavy and sound incredible–totally taking me back 20 years to when the band was connecting the hooks of Hüsker Dü with the jams of Sonic Youth and adding a dash of Steel Pole Bath Tub to keep listeners from getting too comfortable. Jawbreaker could have taken over the world if their guitars would have stayed in tune during shows…
I asked Blackball Records label honcho and Jawbreaker drummer Adam Pfahler about revisiting his old band with singer/guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach and bass player Chris Bauermeister. He responded with detailed and revealing answers, as well as an awesome behind-the-scenes Polaroid shot by our mutually loved and missed friend Lance Hahn. The picture was taken on the same rooftop as the “official” portrait was being shot for the LP. The flyers are from my stash.