ATN's Steve McConnell reports: A boat load of 250 media, hangers-on, radio

contest winners and anyone else who could sneak on board headed out to sea on

a Blue and Gold Fleet cruise ship with the one and only Jawbreaker the other

night (Sept. 12). The occasion for a three hour boat ride--that traveled from

San Francisco, headed under the Golden Gate Bridge, hit the Sausalito harbor

and returned back to the city--was the release of Jawbreaker's fourth album,

Dear You. Booze flowed for those of age, and snacks consisted of

chips, salsa, cheese doodles and jawbreakers (natch). Highlight of the trip

was a 45 minute set by the band. Performing in a room with 8' high ceilings

made body surfing somewhat

challenging, but the hard core fans at the front of the stage were up to

the effort. The band gave a short (due to equipment problems) but spirited

performance leaning heavily on the new material. "This song has no sense

of irony," said vocalist/guitarist Blake Scharzenbach of Dear You's

lead

track "Save Your Generation," which was met with lots of restrained pogoing

(mind your head). Other cool cuts included "Jet Black" (with a slow

Psychedelic Furs groove laid down by drummer Adam Pfahler and bassist Chris

Bauermeister), and the punk anthem "Bad Scene, Everybody's Fault." Giving the

new album a post-cruise spin, it sounds like Jawbreaker's got a

winner. Other stand-out tracks include

"Fireman" and "Oyster." Producer Rob Cavallo has been brought aboard to add

the same technical wizardry he delivered for Green Day's Dookie.

Whether "Dear You" rocks the country the way Dookie did (nine-plus

million copies sold!) remains to be seen, but Jawbreaker proved they can rock

the boat.