Last year, beloved pop-punk trio Jawbreaker stepped onstage for the first time in more than 20 years to headline the final night of Chicago’s Riot Fest. It was the preliminary step in a long-dreamt-of reunion that will finally reach Portland for two nights this week. There’s even chatter of new music being hashed out by the group. It’s the kind of news that should warm every sensitive soul who used quotes from “Accident Prone” and “Kiss the Bottle” as the status message on their AIM accounts (“I kissed the bottle/I should have been kissing you”).
Jawbreaker originally existed for about a decade in the late ’80s and ’90s. Formed by three NYU students—guitarist/vocalist Blake Schwarzenbach, drummer Adam Pfahler, and bassist Chris Bauermeister—the band picked up a head of steam upon relocating to California, falling in with the punk scenes in LA and the Bay Area through their ragged and complex tunes. What drew the kids in were Schwarzenbach’s lyrics detailing his frustration with snobby scenesters and his romantic failings. No matter how petty or deeply felt the concern, he expressed everything with a full-throated bellow and thoughtfully chosen words.