Customer Reviews

Novelty

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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Perhaps no post-punk band anywhere has so succesfully married the seemingly opposite qualities of pop melody and abrasion / angst / avant-garde dissonance as Washington, D.C.'s, late lamented Jawbox. Imagine the Pixies as serious intellectuals . . . except Jawbox are more intense / loud, more musically adventurous, and (at least to my ears) have even stronger hooks than the Pixies did. An even better reference would be the pop side of Mission of Burma (an increasingly obvious influence on their next two records). Every Jawbox CD has some lesser tracks which simply recycle their formula, or which try new things and don't quite work, but when they are on their game, they are as good as it gets. NOVELTY might be their best, although it's neither their most adventurous nor most consistent CD. "Static," "Spiral Fix"," and especially "Dreamless" and "Spit-Bite" rank among their handful or two of best all-time songs.

You wonder why a band like this is still greatly unheard of these days. SO many bands were influenced by J. Robbins it isn't even funny. We all owe some respect to another "Jaw" band. This cd showcases 90's alternative: even before it's time. Novelty still rotates in my cd player constantly.

This is a seminal record from the early 90's and probably the goups best album. This is one of the few albums i keep going back too faithfully, it has become timeless and will offer something new to first time listensers. All the heavey music fans of this day, ie. 16 to 21 yrs age, need to listen to this album to understand why some of the older generations find todays heavey alt. music unoriginal and another flash in the pan.
a must have album to any alt.rock or alt.altrock, and heavy music fan.
cc

I bought this album the day it came out and I have too say

it still sounds as great today as it did in 92. the recording

sounds very true to their live show and they seem to really come together and rock on this one. I am usually pressed

between this and grippe as my favorite. but if I had to

recommend only one for "the" Jawbox sound, it would be novelty.