J. Robbins plays Burning Airlines
Guitarist/singer and indie rock stalwart J. Robbins formed the band Burning Airlines with drummer Peter Moffett, an old friend and fellow Government Issue alumnus, in late 1998, almost immediately after the breakup of Robbins’ longest-running and best known band Jawbox. Bill Barbot, who had been the other guitarist in Jawbox, was tapped by Robbins to play bass. This lineup made one record, Mission:Control!, for Dischord-adjacent indie label DeSoto Records, before Barbot decided to depart the rock life to start a web design company. Mike Harbin then joined on bass for the rest of the band’s tenure, and this lineupm made the second Burning Airlines record, Identikit, and toured far more extensively, including trips to Europe and Japan, and US runs with Rival Schools, Braid, Promise Ring, and even the Buzzcocks, to name just a few, before disbanding in October 2001.
Burning Airlines may have never quite escaped Jawbox’s shadow in its own time, but BA was a unique band whose music picked up where Jawbox left off, moving into areas equally more pop, more rock, more melodic, and more experimental. With the German label Thirty Something reissuing both records on vinyl in 2025, J. Robbins (band), with Robbins and Moffett having been 2/3 of the BA lineup, and bassist Brooks Harlan ably filling the shoes of Barbot and Harbin, is playing a small number of Burning Airlines themed shows to celebrate.
Thu, Dec 4 • 7:30 pm
Mexican
Pizza
Italian
Deli-Sandwiches
Burgers
American
New American
Caribbean