Jawbox Reunite for U.S. Tour

The influential Dischord Records band first broke up in 1997

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Jan 14, 2019

Influential Washington, DC post-hardcore act Jawbox are reuniting. Today, the band — featuring J. Robbins, Bill Barbot, Kim Coletta and Zach Barocas — announced their first series of performances in a decade.

The tour will kick off in June and so far stick entirely to the U.S. Down below, you can see the full list of newly announced dates.

These mark the first shows from Jawbox since the band did a one-off reunion performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon back in 2009. At the time, that marked their first time playing together in 12 years.

For the unfamiliar, Dischord Records has penned a Jawbox refresher of sorts, which you can find below with those reunion tour dates.

Jawbox was formed in Washington, DC in 1989 by J. Robbins, bassist Kim Coletta, and original drummer Adam Wade. The group released their debut 7" in 1990 on their own DeSoto label. Grippe, released on Dischord Records in 1991, was Jawbox's first full-length outing. That year saw second guitarist/singer Bill Barbot join the line-up in time to create a denser sound for 1992's Novelty, also released on Dischord.  Zach Barocas assumed drumming duties in April '92, ushering in a new era for the group with his contributions to the rhythm section and the band's songwriting, as first exhibited on 1994's For Your Own Special Sweetheart

Tours of all sizes and durations throughout Europe and the U.S. were part and parcel of Jawbox's routine back then. Equally explosive at Red Rocks or a Roman squat, they were in all cases a galvanized, well-oiled band.

They released their last album, the self-titled Jawbox LP, in 1996, and after another year of touring, broke up in 1997. Although Atlantic Records released the last two albums, Dischord has since made all of the band's full-lengths available.

The group reunited briefly in 2009 for an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The performance was a one-off, and there was no subsequent talk of any other shows of any kind for years.

In early 2017, however, Zach contacted his former bandmates to see what they thought about playing some shows. The resulting conversations were at first casual, but eventually moved the band to action, and by June they began rehearsing for the shows that now comprise An Impartial Overview. 

It's been an exciting time, reacquainting not only with the music but also with each other. However much the members of Jawbox have played elsewhere over the years, there is no doubt that the chemistry and energy they bring to this band remains unique for each of them. The sets will draw from most of their discography with an emphasis on the Robbins/Coletta/Barbot/Barocas recordings, especially For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Jawbox, which mark the peak of their creative and performative time together. Longtime fans will be in familiar territory: Coletta's irrepressible presence; Robbins's heartfelt guitar and vocal harmonic roar; Barbot's razor-sharp vocal and guitar challenge and complement; and Barocas's exacting flail and crash continue to coalesce as they always have, as a single functioning musical unit.


Tour dates:

06/14 Cambridge, MA - Sinclair

06/21 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer

06/22 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel

06/28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

07/09 Seattle, WA - Showbox at the Market

07/10 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom

07/12 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore

07/13 Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theater

07/19 Dallas, TX - Trees

07/20 Austin, TX - Mohawk

07/26 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue

07/27 Chicago, IL - Metro
 

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