Unfun

Jawbreaker's 1990 debut, UNFUN, quietly introduced a new twist on punk that's continues to pay dividends for generations of young turks. By fusing the rough pop of H?sker D? with the raw emotional fury of Rites of Spring, Jawbreaker dwelled in a sweet spot that allowed for a wider range of expression than many punk acts were allowed. College boys who formed at NYU, they also enriched their songs with novelistic details influenced by dark, personal writers like Charles Bukowski and Raymond Carver. All of it added up to something unique and wonderful. It would later be called "emo," but in 1990 it was just good, smart punk rock. UNFUN starts with the driving, plaintive "Want," essentially setting Jawbreaker's template through a locomotive bassline and a guitar bathed in battery acid. Singer Blake Schwarzenbach, still years away from throat surgery, yells romantic pleas in a shredded croak that mates passion with wry observation. Whereas other bands focused on political sloganeering, Schwarzenbach's lyrics chronicled the malaise of the educated and the inability to accomplish anything when collegiate inertia sets in. UNFUN would be a real accomplishment for any other young band, but it was only a launching pad for Jawbreaker.