1995's
Dear You
finds
Jawbreaker
cleaning up and streamlining their
punk-pop
sound and coming up with a sleek, slick
punk
-
grunge
classic that relies as much on clever songwriting and restrained emotions as it does on the group's trademarked high-energy attack. From the opening chords of the anthemic
"Save Your Generation,"
Blake Schwarzenbach
's vocals are the star. He was coming off of throat surgery that robbed him of a lot of his vocal power but gave him a smoky intimate sound that gives the feeling that he is whispering right in your ear. On songs like
"I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both"
or
"Jet Black,"
he sounds wounded in a way that screaming could never convey. The album is a powerful mix of jumpy
like
"Bad Scene,"
"Everybody's Fault,"
"Fireman,"
and the aching
"Chemistry"
and mid-tempo tracks like the amazing
"Million,"
and
"Basilica
that escapes being tied to the time of
-by-the-numbers by being melodic and heartfelt without going over the top, by being just
enough to be real and just epic enough to rise above the often boringly earnest approach of too many
bands. Along with
Weezer
's
Blue Album
,
is one of the cornerstones upon which
emo
and late-'90s
were built. Certainly
Jimmy Eat World
wore out their copy, as
Bleed American
sounds like a less produced younger brother, and
Dashboard Confessional
's whole oeuvre sounds like a lesser version of
's acoustic
"Unlisted Track."
Depending on how you feel about
, there is either a lot to blame
for or be thankful for here. Either way,
is one of the best
rock
records of the '90s and a fitting last testament to a great band. ~ Tim Sendra