Jawbreaker is an American punk rock band active from 1986 to 1996, and again since 2017. The band is considered one of the influential acts of the 1990s emo movement. Lead vocalist and guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach, bassist Chris Bauermeister, and drummer Adam Pfahler formed the band while students at New York University, later relocating to Los Angeles where they released their debut album Unfun (1990) through independent record label Shredder Records. Relocating again to San Francisco the next year, they released 1992's Bivouac through the Tupelo Recording Company and The Communion Label. Schwarzenbach's charisma and personal, frustrated lyrics helped establish him as a cult idol, even as he underwent surgery to remove painful, voice-threatening polyps from his throat.