Burning Airlines

Almost immediately following the April 1997 breakup of Jawbox, J. Robbins (guitars/vocals) began writing and playing with ex-Wool and former Government Issue bandmate Peter Moffett (drums). One day, the bassist couldn't make it to practice, so Robbins convinced the other Jawbox guitarist and vocalist Bill Barbot to slide into the role. By the end of 1998, Burning Airlines (named after a Brian Eno song) had their debut single and a split release with Braid in the bins of mom-and-pop record shops.



The band took enough "time off" from a hectic touring schedule to record Mission: Control!, released in early 1999. As with the remainder of the band's major works, it was released by DeSoto, the label run by former Jawbox bassist Kim Coletta and spouse Barbot. Featuring arrangements that were sharper and scaled back from those of Jawbox, the record held the spirit of early Xtc and The Pixies, along with retaining the Mission of Burma and Gang Of Four-influenced foundation of Jawbox. Robbins also made a concerted effort to make his songwriting more direct, no longer writing in code or cut-and-paste snippets.

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