music.wikisort.org - Composition

24 Hour Revenge Therapy is the third studio album by American punk rock band Jawbreaker, released on February 7, 1994, through Tupelo Recording Company and Communion Label. Following the release of their second studio album Bivouac (1992), frontman Blake Schwarzenbach developed a polyp on his vocal chords. While on tour in Europe, he went to a hospital; upon returning to the United States, the band took up day jobs. Recording sessions for their next album were held at Steve Albini's house in Chicago, Illinois across three days in May 1993. After being disappointed by the mixes, three songs were recorded in a single day at Brilliant in San Francisco, California in August 1993.

24 Hour Revenge Therapy
Studio album by Jawbreaker
Released	February 7, 1994 (1994-02-07)
Recorded	May and August 1993
Studio	Steve Albini's house, Chicago, Illinois; Brilliant, San Francisco, California
Genre	Punk rock pop-punk emo
Length	37:11
Label	Tupelo Communion
Producer	Jawbreaker
Jawbreaker chronology
Bivouac (1992) 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (1994) Dear You (1995)

24 Hour Revenge Therapy received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the songwriting. Described as a blend of their traditional punk rock and pop-punk sound, it harkened back to the simplistic arrangements of Jawbreaker's debut studio album Unfun (1990). They supported Nirvana on their US tour, and then went on a stint with J Church, prior to the release of the album. They supported it with a tour of Europe at the end of 1994. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy has been included on best-of lists for pop-punk, as well as for the 1990s, by the likes of LAS Magazine, Pitchfork, and Rock Sound.

Background and writing

Jawbreaker released their second album Bivouac in December 1992.[1] While on tour in the United States, frontman Blake Schwarzenbach had developed a polyp on his vocal chords. They had planned to get their roadie Raul Reyes to sing for the remainder of the trek. After a single show where Reyes could not recall the lyrics, Schwarzenbach started singing again. The band then embarked on a tour of Europe; during it, he would cough up blood. As they were unable to fly home due to fog, Schwarzenbach went to a hospital. As he was recovering, the rest of the band spent time in London with Lookout! Records staff member Christy Colcord.[2]

After leaving the hospital, Schwarzenbach was instructed not to talk or drink for a period of five days. His first show post-surgery saw his vocals being altered two octaves higher. Bassist Chris Bauermeister and drummer Adam Pfahler moved to Albion Street in Los Angeles, while Schwarzenbach moved to Oakland. Bauermeister worked at a toy store, and Pfahler spent time running a video store, as Schwarzenbach wrote new material alone and served as a librarian. They would meet up and hold practice sessions in the basement of a club. Prior to recording their next album, they had all of the material for it fully planned out, and already had a sequence for it.[2]

Production

24 Hour Revenge Therapy was mainly recorded at engineer Steve Albini's house in Chicago, Illinois across three days in May 1993.[2][3] He had upgraded the recording console at his house from eight-track to 24-track prior to this. As such, Albini would record a large number of bands in a small period in order to pay the bill for the equipment. The band moved all of their gear into Albini's basement, where the band would be recording.[2] Due to the 24-track recorder breaking down, the band had less time to record material.[4] Following this, they went on tour, before returning home to San Francisco. Here, it became clear that Schwarzenbach was not satisfied with the mixes that had been made.[2] "The Boat Dreams from the Hill", "Boxcar", and "Condition Oakland" were recorded in a single day at Brilliant in San Francisco, California in August 1993. The band self-produced the sessions, while Billy Anderson also served as an engineer.[3]

"The Boat Dreams from the Hill" was re-done as the song did not have enough pauses in the music for Schwarzenbach to sing over.[2] In addition, the pick slide and lead guitar part that opens the track was swapped for Pfahler's drums.[4] "Boxcar" was also re-made, with an increase in tempo. They altered those songs based on live performances sometime prior.[2] Around this time, he wrote "Condition Oakland", which he felt was "a good summation" of recording music; as they had been playing it on tour, they opted to record it for their next album.[2][4] Recording the track at Brilliant was "pretty perfect" due to the studio's large size, making it "kind of a cavernous song".[2] A sample of Jack Kerouac and Steve Allen was recorded for it by playing a cassette of performing, done by pointing a Shure SM57 microphone at a boom box speaker.[4] As Albini preferred not to be credited, he was named as Fluss in the album's booklet; his sessions cost $3,000.[2][5] John Golden mastered the album at K-Disc in Hollywood, California.[3]

Composition and lyrics

Musically, the sound of 24 Hour Revenge Therapy has been described as punk rock,[2][4][6][7] pop-punk,[6][8] and emo.[9] Dan Fidler of Spin said it was "composed of short, tight arrangements", centered around Pfahler's "furious drumming" and Bauermeister's "barreling bass".[10] The latter realised the "value of pulling back and not doing fills every chance I got, but trying to put them in useful places and places that made sense".[4] Schwarzenbach's vocals were compared to Paul Westerberg of the Replacements and Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs.[6] The material on the album were Schwarzenbach-focused, instead of the more collaborative efforts on Bivouac.[2] The latter saw the band lean towards a more progressive sound, while 24 Hour Revenge Therapy had simplified arrangements, closer to their debut studio album Unfun (1990).[6]

The opening track to 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, "The Boat Dreams from the Hill", was inspired by Schwarzenbach seeing a boat on a hill while driving in Santa Cruz.[2] It switches viewpoints from the unfixable boat drifting on water, to a pensioner building the boat, and losing one's voice.[6][11] "Indictment" levies criticism towards major labels, and not caring about other peoples' opinions on songwriting.[5][12] Pfahler said the song's full title was "Scathing Indictment of the Pop Industry", tackling the process behind music distribution. Portions of his drum parts on it were influenced by Sugar and Dave Grohl of Nirvana.[4] "Boxcar" was written while on the side of a road in France, and deals with the concept of selling out in the punk rock scene.[2][11] "Outpatient" was written following Schwarzenbach's hospitalization; Pfahler thought it sounded similar to the tracks on Bivouac.[2][4] Schwarzenbach said it was a series of vignettes of his vocal surgery, though he had "about 10 memories or images to choose from because I was unconscious for a lot of it".[4]

"Ashtray Monument" sees Schwarzenbach discuss his parents' divorce, and his perspective in its aftermath.[11] He said it was about life in Mission District, specifically the band's apartment on Sycamore Street.[4] "Condition Oakland" tackles the theme of loneliness, as well as the difficulties of being an artist. The song was influenced by the music of Swervedriver and Treepeople being in frequent rotation for Schwarzenbach, in which he attempt to sing like the latter's frontman Doug Martsch.[2] It is in 3/4 time, and includes a sample of Kerouac reciting (with Allen playing piano) "October in the Rail Earth" from Lonesome Traveler.[2][4][13] "Ache" is a leftover from the Bivouac sessions; for 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, played an anthemic-sounding guitar running through a RadioShack amplifier.[2] "Do You Still Hate Me?" is a love song about the aftermath of a relationship; its chorus consists of unanswered questions.[13]

"West Bay Invitational" talks about a house party and existentialism.[13] Discussing the song, Pfahler said him and Schwarzenbach shared an apartment on the top floor, with Bauermeister, Reyes and Lance Hahn of J Church in another apartment opposite them. The band decided to throw a massive party with various people from bands and labels; Schwarzenbach said aspects of the event ended up in "West Bay Invitational".[4] "Jinx Removing" details a relationship at its end, while trying to compromise in holding it together.[11] Schwarzenbach felt disconnected from his girlfriend, despite them living 20 city blocks apart; Bauermeister said it shared a simialr structure to "The Boat Dreams from the Hill". The title of the album's closing track, "In Sadding Around", comes from a Schwarzenbach's roommate Bob McDonald. Pfahler said that "underneath it all there is this hope, that even with all of this devastation around, your narrator is still saying [positive] things".[4]

Release

Following recording, Schwarzenbach received a call from Gold Mountain Management, who offered Jawbreaker the opportunity to support Nirvana on tour. It was the result of Cali DeWitt, who was babysitting Frances Bean Cobain for Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain. DeWitt had seen Jawbreaker a few times previously, and suggested them to Cobain when the Wipers had to drop out. They subsequently appeared on the In Utero tour, playing to 3–6,000 people per night.[2] Jawbreaker then toured across the US with J Church; the San Francisco date erupted into a fight due to a heckler, which saw the police being called in.[5] 24 Hour Revenge Therapy was released on February 7, 1994 through Tupelo Recording Company and Communion Label.[3][14] It was quickly overshadowed by the popularity of Dookie (1994) by Green Day, and Smash (1994), both of which pushed punk rock into the mainstream.[7] Shortly after this, Schwarzenbach moved to San Francisco.[2] They closed out the year with a tour of Europe in November 1994.[15]

In October 2014, Pfahler's label Blackball Records issued 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. It featured alternative takes of "The Boat Dreams from the Hill", "Boxcar", "Do You Still Hate Me?", and "Jinx Removing", alongside two outtakes, "First Step" and "Friends Back East".[16] The latter two were previously included on the band's first compilation album Etc. (2002).[6] In addition to this, footage of Mission District, San Francisco from 1992 was compiled into a music video for "Boxcar", directed by Pfahler.[17][18]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Pitchfork	9.1/10[6]

24 Hour Revenge Therapy was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Will Dandy of Punk Planet said Schwarzenbach's lyrics got "more confusing and metaphoric" with each release. Despite this, he called the music "pulsing, [...] with a spontaneous feel".[19] AllMusic reviewer Mike DaRonco found the band to "deal with their endeavors through music instead of wallowing in them, making this record not entirely bleak".[12] Pitchfork contributor Brandon Stosuy said that the album provided "some of the most indelible examples of punk music crammed with emotion. These are life-changing songs that, a couple decades later, still give goosebumps".[6] Louder writer Mischa Pearlman called it a "dark, late night cigarette of a record, one full of hope and despair and jaded existentialism".[7]

24 Hour Revenge Therapy has been included on best-of lists for pop-punk by BuzzFeed and Rock Sound, as well as for the 1990s by LAS Magazine and Pitchfork.[8][20][21] Rise Against cited the album as one of their 12 key influences, alongside works by Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys and Fugazi.[22]

Accolades for 24 Hour Revenge Therapy

Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
BuzzFeed	36 Pop Punk Albums You Need To Hear Before You F——ing Die	18	[20]
LA Weekly	Top 20 Emo Albums in History	13	[23]
LAS Magazine	90 Albums of the 90s	52	[21]
Pitchfork	Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s	61	[21]
Rock Sound	The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time	34	[8]
Stereogum	The Top 20 Steve Albini-Recorded Albums	7	[24]

Track listing

All songs by Blake Schwarzenbach.[3]

2014 reissue bonus tracks

Personnel

Personnel per booklet, except where noted.[3]

References

Citations

Sources

External links

• 24 Hour Revenge Therapy (remastered) at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

---