Jawbreaker's 24 hour revenge therapy: (or, the strange death of selling out)

"Two and a half decades on, Jawbreaker's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1993-94) is the rare album to have lost none of its original loyalty, affection, and reverence. If anything, today, the cult of Jawbreaker - in their own words, "the little band that could but would probably rather not" - is now many times greater than it was when they broke up in 1996. Like the best work of Fugazi, The Clash, and Operation Ivy, the album is now is a rite of passage and a beloved classic among partisans of intelligent, committed, literary punk music and poetry. Why, when a thousand other artists came and went in that confounding decade of the 90s, did Jawbreaker somehow come to seem like more than just another band? Why do they persist, today, in meaning so much to so many people? And how did it happen that, two years after releasing their masterpiece, the band that was somehow more than just a band to its fans - closer to equipment for living - was no longer? Ronen Givony's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy is an extended tribute in the spirit of Nicholson Baker's U & I: a passionate, highly personal, and occasionally obsessive study of one of the great confessional rock albums of the 90s. At the same time, it offers a quizzical look back to the toxic authenticity battles of the decade, ponders what happened to the question of "selling out," and asks whether we today are enriched or impoverished by that debate becoming obsolete."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Two and a half decades on, Jawbreaker's '24 Hour Revenge Therapy' (1993-94) is the rare album to have lost none of its original loyalty, affection, and reverence. If anything, today, the cult of Jawbreaker-in their own words, "the little band that could but would probably rather not"--Is now many times greater than it was when they broke up in 1996. Like the best work of Fugazi, The Clash, and Operation Ivy, the album is now a rite of passage and a beloved classic among partisans of intelligent, committed, literary punk music and poetry.0Why, when a thousand other artists came and went in that confounding decade of the 90s, did Jawbreaker somehow come to seem like more than just another band? Why do they persist, today, in meaning so much to so many people? And how did it happen that, two years after releasing their masterpiece, the band that was somehow more than just a band to its fans-closer to equipment for living-was no longer?0Ronen Givony's '24 Hour Revenge Therapy' is an extended tribute in the spirit of Nicholson Baker's 'U & I': a passionate, highly personal, and occasionally obsessive study of one of the great confessional rock albums of the 90s. At the same time, it offers a quizzical look back to the toxic authenticity battles of the decade, ponders what happened to the question of "selling out," and asks whether we today are enriched or impoverished by that debate becoming obsolete Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 Rainy days drop boyish wonder......Page 16 How can I do this better?......Page 26 The clarity of Cal to break your heart......Page 42 These things go wrong so often......Page 54 This is all we want from life......Page 68 Our enemies will laugh and be pointing......Page 110 Selling kids to other kids......Page 128 It’s a long way down again......Page 162 People from bands and labels. The good ones......Page 180 Rainy days drop boyish wonder......Page 204 These things go wrong so often......Page 205 This is all we want from life......Page 206 Selling kids to other kids......Page 207 People from bands and labels. The good ones......Page 210 Postscript: Hey, I remember that day......Page 212 Acknowledgments......Page 216 Primary......Page 218 Secondary......Page 219 Also available in the series......Page 222 Ronen Givony. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 209-212) And Index.