Ivan Julian is a guitarist, singer and songwriter who many may know as a founding member of Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He has also contributed to music by as well as performed with the likes of Isley Brothers, The Clash (for instance he played on “The Call Up” from 1980’s Sandinista!), Matthew Sweet (with whom he toured for a number of years in the 90s), The Bongos, Shriekback and others. The child of a Navy officer, Julian spent a great deal of time living in other parts of the world including Haiti and Cuba but ended up in Washington D.C. as happens with families who have jobs with the federal government. Julian began playing guitar in his early teen years and was a touring musician at age 17 as a member of The Foundations. In his 20s Julian was part of that influential CBGB’s scene and crossed paths with a broad swath of the punk world and No Wave scenes and formed a group called Lovelies in 1988 with his then life Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras. In February 2023 Julian released his new album under his name called Swing Your Lanterns, an album about the nature of character in a time of troubles and how that overlaps with the human condition, it’s an album about timeless themes of love and loss, dreams and contemplating the deeper meaning of it all. Musically it brings together the sounds of Julian’s long career with elements of punk attitude, blues, R&B, pop and art rock. It finds Julian in an imaginative mode with poignant commentary on our current era.
Listen to our interview with Julian on Bandcamp and give a listen to Swing Your Lanterns on Bandcamp where you can also purchase the album on digital, CD and pre-order the limited edition 160 gram vinyl.
Jawbreaker at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
When Blake Schwarzenbach of Jawbreaker said at some point during that band’s set said something about how this is probably the punk tour of the year it seemed obvious. Even if one were inclined to contrarian impulses the fact that it was Jawbox headlining a bill that included Samiam, Face to Face and Descendents makes that more challenging to refute.
Samiam at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
Samiam started very early in the evening around 6:30 p.m. and its melodic punk sound had some unexpected grit to it live. There was an underlying catharsis of personal pain and loss the seemed to inform the songs and upon closer listen songs like “Dull” and “Capsized” in the set list hit hard and heavy yet in doing so made the need to make music to uplift without trivializing those feelings so urgent in a way that translated directly to the live performance.
Face to Face at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
Face to Face’s own anthemic punk while not as gritty as that of Samiam before them sure delved into topics deeper than one might expect from a band that is so closely associated with pop punk. But its songs exploring personal integrity and the core meaningfulness of life informed by a self-effacing humor and poetic insight were undeniably effective. “Walk the Walk” and “It’s Not Over” really made that obvious and how Face To Face injects some inventive guitar work into a style of music that can be a bit predictable three decades in. Trever Keith also gets points for throwing some friendly shade in saying how he enjoyed his Dodgers handling “your Rockies.” Fortunately people laughed and didn’t take the comment too seriously.
Descendents at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
Descendents walked on stage and without a lot of preamble launched the set with “Everything Sux” like the legends of the whole pop punk world they are. Although there was a spirited joyfulness to the Descendents’ performance and they performed silly songs like “Wienerschnitzel” what became very apparent from the live show is how this music makes life’s everyday problems and struggles seem manageable by humanizing them, by pointing out the humor value and poignancy of it all even when it feels its most painful. Setting those moments of peak emotional turmoil to energetic and tuneful punk songs fortifies the mind. While it may not be saying it’s all going to be okay or something unrealistic like that it at least suggests these experiences don’t have to sink you and that has been an important thing to hear for years and even now which is part of why Descendents and the bands it influenced remain resonant and relevant. And it wasn’t all songs about being a young, angsty person, and material like “Global Probing,” “Clean Sheets” and “When I Get Old” transcend the adolescent mindset while staying rooted in a spirit of youthful exuberance and a willingness to feel all those feelings and not hide from them in the name of growing up. Like burying your emotions just because you reached a certain age or have a “real” job and a mortgage and marriage really worked for anyone anyway.
Jawbreaker at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
After Jawbreaker split in 1996 its cult following seemed to increasingly expand for over twenty years. Its anthemic pop punk songs infused with literary yet accessible lyrics found a wide audience among fans of pop punk but follow the creative threads even from its debut album Unfun and there’s more thoughtfulness, inventive guitar work and unconventional rhythms than one might expect given its general legacy as one of the star bands of 90s pop punk. And live the sharper edges of the music and its more experimental instincts were starkly obvious. The infectious melodies and emotionally vulnerable vocals that have made it a massive influence on emo were there to be sure. One was struck by how much The Clash probably influenced the songwriting not to mention an obvious inspiration like Descendents. But in its most stretching out past the boundaries of standard punk moments, when the band engaged in noisy soundscapes mid-song or near the end it felt like getting to see a Steve Albini band though more Shellac than Big Black. It had that combination of focused intensity and wildness that you don’t hear in much punk that got too popular. And that’s when Jawbreaker was at its most exciting from a musical standpoint.
Jawbreaker at Fillmore Auditorium 4/8/22, photo by Tom Murphy
For just three guys on stage Jawbreaker unleashed a lot of energy all while maintaining a stance of self-deprecating irreverence that you’d hope to hear. If you include the encore the set consisted of almost all of Dear You with some choice tracks from 24 Hour Revenge Therapy thrown in (“Boxcar,” “Condition Oakland” and “Jinx Removing”) and before performing “Basilica” to close out the show, Schwarzenbach told us something like how they would leave us with one last psychedelic mindfuck to take with us before retreating to the comfort of our everyday abodes. Given the extravagant sonic freakout that blazed out the show, at least the band delivered as it did the entire performance.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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