Jawbreaker Receive $1800 Payment From Apologetic Bootlegger

Yesterday (Aug. 4), former Jawbreaker drummer Adam Pfahler received an envelope in the mail. According to Pfahler's subsequent posts on the band's official Facebook and Twitter profiles, the envelope wasn't marked with a return address. Pfahler, founder and operator of the Blackball label that has reissued Jawbreaker back-catalog titles such as last year's expanded edition of 1994's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, explains in the post (above) that, on opening the envelope, "a couple of postal money orders fall out. I figure it's someone having trouble with the jawbreakerband website ordering a shirt or record. [Then] I read the note," which reads:

Dear Adam -- you've probably forgotten/written this off by now, but almost 15 years ago I sold about 40 unauthorized Jawbreaker b-side cd's on eBay and then you contacted me with a cease-and-desist notice, which I complied with. I made approximately $600 from those eBay sales. I was an aimless, desperate, naive, dumb kid and I didn't realize (at the time) how much of an impact your music would eventually have on my life. I believe in karma and helping out those who've made an impact on my life. So please accept this check for $1800 as my most sincere apology. I feel I owe you more than this because I don't think I'd be alive today if it weren't for the music you guys created. I love you guys.

Active for a decade spanning 1986-1996, Jawbreaker played a taut brand of indie punk that pre-dated what would eventually be referred to as emo -- a term that unfairly lumps the trio's work in with the waves of punk-offshoot styles that gained popularity in Jawbreaker's wake.