Jabbers never say die
By Tom Colletta
If N.H. rockers the Jabbers upcoming all-ages gig Sunday, Nov. 16 at the Bomb Shelter in Manchester proves one thing, it’s that sometimes in life you do get second chances.
Twenty-five years after getting together with the legendary punk rock madman G.G. Allin (who died of a drug overdose in 1994), the Jabbers are back with a new record, a new label and a new singer. The crowd at the Bomb Shelter, most of whom probably weren’t even around with the Jabbers were first playing rent-a-halls and gin mills around Manch Vegas so many years ago, can expect some of the same old punk rock fortitude and vitriol that led the group to such an infamous reputation.
"It’s not for the faint of heart," says singer Jack Hayes a/k/a Wimpy Rutherford. "It’s funny at gigs cause half the crowd pushes toward the front of the stage when we get ready to play and the other half backs away," guitarist Chris Lamy relates. "An old fan at a Boston gig told us that seeing us was the first beer she had in five years," Wimpy states, with a droll smile. "It’s because we spit it on her."
Wimpy is perhaps best known to local rock fans as one of the original members of the Queers. The Jabbers had been recording with various vocalists at the Electric Cave studio in Portsmouth and Wimpy had inquired about meeting the group through studio honcho Jim Tierney.
"Wimpy had been a big fan," Lamy says. He adds, they had been bringing in guest vocalists to perform the new tunes they were recording including such punk rock luminaries as Jeff Clayton from Antiseen, Joe King of the Queers and Jeff Dahl, who spent some time with the Angry Samoans as well as releasing stuff under his own name.
"Wimpy sang some back ups with these guys and did some tunes of his own. He fit right in." Lamy says. "Nobody else can do what Wimpy does. Nobody else would have fit."
Along with Lamy and Wimpy, the rest of the band consists of Rob Basso on guitar, Alan Chapple on bass (both of whom were original Jabbers) and Mike O’Donnell on drums, who played in one of the later Jabber lineups.
After playing at the recent Confederacy of Scum supershow in Las Vegas, the band was approached by Steel Cage Records out of Philadelphia to do an album. Lamy states, while other labels were interested in the Jabbers new output, Steel Cage seemed the most serious. "We had 18 songs in the can and Steel Cage said ‘We really want to do something with you guys’. They were really excited that Wimpy was singing," he says, adding the album will be released sometime in the spring of ’04.
As far as living in the shadow of the extremist legacy of Mssr. Allin, Chappel points out that the Jabbers were a group and G.G. was one of the Jabbers. "It was G.G.’s idea to put his name upfront and make it easier to get recognition," Chappel says.
"We’re glad for the recognition it’s given us," Lamy says. "I’ve got nothing bad to say about G.G. He was an original, the genuine thing. There’ll never be another one like him. That’s really obvious when you see these corporate G.G.’s like Marilyn Manson.
"But we’re not some sort of G.G.cover band. We all had a hand in writing the old songs and we have a lots of new stuff that is all ours."
Tom Colletta played his first punk rock show opening for G.G. Allin and The Jabbers at The Metro in Manchester in the early ‘80s. He hasn’t been the same since.