Thursday, February 20, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

CDVS

As any true punk-o-phile will tell you, the most unpunk thing an otherwise promising band can do is to record an album or two on an independent label and then jump ship at the first sign of a corporate deal. It's the proverbial kiss of death--nothing short of a crime against D.I.Y.--and a guarantee of swift and violent retribution in an indie-friendly afterlife.

So, when Jawbox left D.C.'s fiercely autonomous Dischord Records for Atlantic in 1993, the punks must have been swinging from the rafters by their wallet chains. What, after all, could motivate any band (and Jawbox was the first) to abandon the supple, suckling teat of mother Dischord? Well, the dough for one thing, but For Your Own Special Sweetheart also sees the full realization of the band's gigantic potential. Previously buried under a muddy tangle of dual guitars and dull, droning vocals, Sweetheart unleashes a brighter, crisper sound that blends dissonance, harmony and distortion into a 42-minute sonic steam burn. Far from ready-made mall punk, Sweetheart would knock the crap out of even the most highly principled punker (if he would simply climb off his high horse long enough to listen).

In contrast, the All-American Rejects came prepackaged for power-pop stardom. Plucked out of the epicenter of small-town America (Stillwater, Okla., to be exact), the Rejects' debut blends all things clichéd--lyrics about love and self-doubt; Weezer-esque guitar work; perfectly timed, post-pubescent voice cracks; a drum machine--into a cream-colored milkshake of mediocrity ideal for mass consumption. And this fact wasn't lost on DreamWorks, which swooped down and snatched up the album only three months after its release on Doghouse Records in 2002.

Thus, it's probably inevitable that we'll see many more years of the All-American Rejects (most likely at the X-games or promoting some kind of "alternative" cola beverage). On the other hand, Jawbox remains only a figment of our collective memory. Refusing to compromise its D.I.Y. integrity, the former Dischordians only made one more album for Atlantic before splitting up in early 1997. Proof, my friends, that they didn't sell out; they sold up. Big difference.--Newt Briggs