Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

Jets to Brazil always makes me think of fall, changing seasons, and remembrance. I started listening to them at a pivotal moment when I was figuring out my identity and becoming an adult. I had long been a fan of Jawbreaker, and when Black Schwarzenbach started JTB, I went to one of their first national tours in 1998 for Orange Rhyming Dictionary in Milwaukee. They played with Fugazi, Compound Red, and the band I saw play most Milwaukee shows at that time, Promise Ring. It was an amazing show for the most part, and I met Blake before the show. For many Jawbreaker fans, Jets to Brazil took some getting used to, mainly because they toned down the former band's punk tendencies for more indie rock and pop influences. While 1995's  Dear You , Jawbreaker's final record, was moving in this direction, JTB added keyboards and sometimes resembled 1980s bands like The Psychedelic Furs or 1990s indie bands like Wilco more than the punk stylings of many of the Jawbreaker releases, Howev...

Jeff Tweedy's newest book contains short and sometimes pithy discussions of songs that influenced his life and music. He intersperses them with memories and events that augment his thinking. Generally fun, often astute, occasionally maddening, but always entertaining, the book often goes in unexpected directions. Tweedy finds new life within the grooves and the stories that surround his musical discoveries. The most eye-opening moments  to me happen when Tweedy finds something in each song that might relate to any of us. However, I also loved his discussions of early SST punk and lesser-known songs, and he often changed my mind or gave me new perspectives to ponder. He might also influence your approach to some popular tunes that he covers.