Flashback: Julien Baker transforms Jawbreaker’s “Accident Prone”

This is Flashback, where we’re reminiscing about some of the most iconic and obscure moments in alt-rock history. This week, we’re looking at when Julien Baker covered Jawbreaker’s “Accident Prone” in 2016.

Julien Baker reps her influences proudly. Her covers are just as formidable as the intense, intimate songs she puts out as a solo artist and as a member of boygenius, from Manchester Orchestra to Elliott Smith.

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In 2016, a year after releasing her gorgeous debut album, Sprained Ankle, Baker made a stop in Belgium, where she played every song on the record. For the encore, though, she had something different in mind. She transformed Jawbreaker’s “Accident Prone” — from the band’s major-label debut and final album — into an arresting piano ballad that amplified its vulnerability. Dear You was a pivot for the band, as vocalist Blake Schwarzenbach shrunk his screams after undergoing throat surgery. This refinement of their sound, like with the slower “Accident Prone,” helped to cement their legacy, though it would take years for the record to reach its audience. Baker’s version brings that nuance, and Schwarzenbach’s brilliant songwriting, to the forefront.

Jawbreaker have long been a band whose influence runs deep. From Hayley Williams to Saves the Day, many have tackled Jawbreaker songs and cited their love for the East Bay band. However, Baker’s adaptation stands tall among the dozens of covers out there — and it’s one that earned the band’s approval. Schwarzenbach even calls it his favorite. “I loved her interpretation with the piano — a literal transcription of the dissonant guitars which I thought was really amazing and then, of course, her natural gift for interpreting songs,” he told UPROXX last year.

See her captivating performance below.