Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart LP

Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart LP, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

DeSoto (1994)

I missed out on Jawbox the first time around. I can't say that I ever heard much by them, but what I did hear didn't captivate me. I always considered them a bit too noisy and dissonant for my liking. Well, much like my experience with the band Seaweed, I've really come around now that I'm older.

It actually started off with the Burning Airlines reissues that came out a little bit ago. I enjoyed them enough that I decided I should probably give Jawbox another try. My wife is actually a big Jawbox fan and she recommended I start off with For Your Own Special Sweetheart, her first Jawbox record. This album was reissued on vinyl recently with new artwork, but I decided I needed to hunt down the original pressing and came across a copy for a totally reasonable price.

From the opening moments of "FF=66" I was a little worried as it starts off with an awful lot of shouting. But that quickly morphs into an unexpectedly memorable chorus. That's what strikes me most about this record, it's loud, the guitars are crunchy and there's a real undercurrent of angst and doom, but every song has this nugget of a hook embedded into it. It's one of the most deceptively catchy records I've heard.

I am very eager to explore more of the Jawbox catalog, though all of their LP's seem to be out of print right now. I'll just have to keep my eyes open and hope I get another good deal like this one.

Jawbox - FF=66:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAVH4dNG4oA

Jawbox - Breathe:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=daqLfl4OByU