Glassjaw is a Post-Hardcore band from Long Island, New York. The band was founded in 1992 and has released three albums so far. Their first two albums, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence (hereby abbreviated as EYEWTKAS - released in 2000) and Worship and Tribute (2002), are both regarded as classics within the post-hardcore genre, the latter album especially. They are known for putting on chaotic live shows and for their frequent lineup changes.
After a fifteen year gap between albums (although touring extensively and releasing three EPs - El Mark in 2005, Our Colour Green: The Singles in 2011 and Coloring Book later the same year) - the band finally released their third album, titled Material Control, in 2017.
Current members:
- Daryl Palumbo - lead vocals
- Justin Beck - guitars
- Travis Sykes - bass
- Chad Hasty - drums
Tropes:
- Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable: Any time Daryl uses clean vocals, but it manages to work.
- Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Mentioned in "Ape Dos Mil".
- Blatant Lies: When put into the context of the rest of EYEWTKAS and how overcome with bitterness and rage the narrator is, the boast in "When One Eight Becomes Two Zeroes" that "You're just another woman. Another hobby for a guy like me" seems patently false.
- Break-Up Song: Most of EYEWTKAS is made up of these. Definitely not the resigned "I wish you the best" kind, either. Daryl had gone through an extremely tough breakup.
- Broken Record: "Pack your shit, leave, and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave, and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave and take my memories of her with you..."
- Careful with That Axe
- Cluster F-Bomb: Well, more of a Cluster Whore Bomb, really. They probably use "whore" on EYEWTKAS more than they use the f-bomb. Very much dialed back with their more sophisticated Worship and Tribute.
- Digital Piracy Is Okay: The band encourage fans to steal EYEWTKAS off the internet rather than give money to Roadrunner Records by purchasing it. This is due to an ugly spat between the band and Roadrunner after the recording of their first album.
- Epic Rocking: Stations of the New Cross (6:55), Two Tabs of Mescaline (6:09 without the hidden track), and "Vermont Connection/The Chapter 7 Test or the Ephesians Were Right After All (7:12)
- Genre Mashup: Worship And Tribute mixes their usual Post-Hardcore / Alternative Metal sound with elements of Noise Rock, Funk Rock, Jazz, Pyschedelic Rock, Thrash Metal, and Afrobeat.
- He-Man Woman Hater: EYEWTKAS has a lot of lyrics that seem to take place from the perspective of one.
- High Turnover Rate
- Indecipherable Lyrics: Daryl's unconventional singing style, combined with loud guitars and frequent screaming make most of their lyrics hard to understand. Not that the general Word Salad helps any.
- Kick the Dog: Roadrunner allegedly forced Daryl to continue touring, even after the stress of performing caused him to have potentially-fatal relapses of Crohn's Disease.
- The Lancer: Justin Beck, the only remaining original member other than Daryl.
- Lighter and Softer: Daryl's other bands, Head Automatica and Color Film.
- Madness Mantra: "Pack your shit, leave, and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave, and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave and take my memories of her with you/Pack your shit, leave and take my memories of her with you..."
- Metal Scream: Usually a type 1 or 3.
- Melismatic Vocals: Daryl does this a lot when singing clean vocals, usually in addition to Accent Upon The Wrong Syllable.
- Misogyny Song: "Lovebites and Razorlines", "Hurting and Shoving (She Should Have Let Me Sleep)"... a lot of EYEWTKAS— not because Daryl's a misogynist but because they're about specific girls who've hurt him.
- New Sound Album: Worship and Tribute, which had a more experimental and somewhat lighter sound.
- Nu Metal: Sometimes associated with the genre due to coming out around the same time, and EYEWTKAS has a little of it, but they were never a part of the genre in any way and removed any influence by their second album.
- Revolving Door Band: Daryl and Justin are the only two original members left. 20 other people have been in the band at various points in time.
- Scary Musician, Harmless Music: Inverted. They don't look intimidating at all, but their music is highly aggressive and emotionally brutal.
- Shout-Out: "The Gillette Cavalcade Of Sports" includes the lyric "And my life is such a ball / that I run the world from city hall", which is a slight paraphrase from Frank Zappa's "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" note . The song is also named after an actual sports radio (and later television) program - a section where Daryl starts imitating a sports announcer includes references to "Bob", which might be a nod to the show's original host, Bob Stanton.
- A bootlegged live performance of "Ape Dos Mil", from before the studio version was released, starts with Daryl jokingly announcing it as "Cuckoo for Caca".
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: The Hidden Track on EYEWTKAS. Also, "The Number No Good Things Can Come Of", a piano and drums piece and the lounge-style "Oxycodone", both off of the El Mark EP. Most of the Coloring Book EP also counts.
- Take That!: Most of EYEWTKAS is a vicious screed against one or more of Daryl's ex-girlfriends.
- Word Salad Lyrics: While EYEWTKAS is very straightforward with its lyrical themes, the lyrics on Worship and Tribute are more abstract. Recent material, such as the Coloring Book EP has continued in this style. They haven't released official meanings of their songs, henceforth no one has figured out who Mr. Shiver is or what he's doing in the river.
