''Grippe'' is the first

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band,

Jawbox Jawbox is an American alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1989 by J. Robbins (vocals/guitar), Kim Coletta (bass), and Adam Wade (drums). After the trio released the album ''Grippe'' in 1991, Bill Barbot (guitar/vocals) join ...

. It was released in May

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...

. This is the only Jawbox album with the band as a trio, since second guitarist Bill Barbot would join the band shortly after the album's release for its touring cycle.

Background

"Consolation Prize" appeared on a cassette-tape that had been floating around the hardcore scene albeit in demo form (this version was called simply "Consolation"). "Bullet Park" had also been previously released in demo form, but on a

Maximumrocknroll ''Maximumrocknroll'', often written as ''Maximum Rocknroll'' and usually abbreviated as ''MRR'', is a not-for-profit monthly zine of punk subculture. Based in San Francisco, ''MRR'' focuses on punk rock and hardcore music, and primarily featur ...

compilation, in 1989. "Footbinder" appeared on a compilation for the indie label

Simple Machines A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term refer ...

shortly before the album release. The last four tracks on the album had previously been released as a self-titled EP in 1990. The original vinyl and cassette copies of the album does not include the last five tracks.

Reception

Recorded throughout 1990, Jawbox's first effort was generally brushed off by critics as a sloppy but promising debut. According to

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's reviewer, Andy Kellman, it was "essentially recorded after getting enough songs together to fill out a 12" chunk of vinyl" calling it "an enjoyable, albeit introspectively brutal record." Kellman also described the music in the album as the marriage of the "earlier crunchy side of

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

with ''

Throb Throb ''Throb Throb'' is an album by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Homestead Records in 1985. It was the first of the band's releases to feature the musicianship of John Haggerty whose guitar playing distinguished the band's sound d ...

''-era Naked Raygun" while highlighting their cover of the Joy Division track "Something Must Break." Jim Testa, of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'', was more positive, writing that the record was "a rich, varied, polyrhythmic tour de force that still bears repeated listening."

Track listing

Personnel

J. Robbins James Robbins (best known as J. Robbins) is an American rock musician. Career Robbins began his career as a bassist for Government Issue, and has also led five of his own bands: Jawbox, Rollkicker Laydown, Burning Airlines, Channels, and Off ...

– vocals, guitar *Kim Coletta – bass * Adam Wade – drums

References

1991 debut albums Jawbox albums Dischord Records albums {{1990s-punk-rock-album-stub