Name change to Jawbreaker and Schwarzenbach on vocals

In the fall of 1987 Schwarzenbach, Pfahler, and Bauermeister took time off from college and moved to Los Angeles to pursue Rise, adding Bauermeister’s childhood friend Jon Liu on lead vocals. This changed, however, when Schwarzenbach wrote and sang “Shield Your Eyes” for the band’s demo . It was the first recording on which he sang, and he later noted that it “kind of defined where we would go as a band”. According to Liu, “That was the song where everything worked. The vocal arrangements. The lyrics. It was a perfect piece. But to my detriment, I kind of bristled against it. I was like, ‘This is amazing, and I don’t think I can do anything like this. ‘ ” The band soon changed their name to Jawbreaker and Schwarzenbach, Pfahler, and Bauermeister decided to continue as a trio with Schwarzenbach on vocals. Bauermeister was given the task of informing Liu that he was no longer in the band, which proved awkward since the two were roommates. “I am cool with it now,” reflected Liu in 2010, “It was to everybody’s benefit. But at the time, there was some bitterness.”