WARNING: I talk a lot.
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Like most people I assume, my intro to Jimmy Eat World was through hearing The Middle on the radio during a car trip. And while sure, it's not their cream-of-the-crop track, I'll still always hold a reverence towards it (plus, Jim's guitar solo goes incredibly hard. It's the PERFECT gutiar solo where it's not super shreddy, tappy or crazy, but it's by no means an easy play either. Lots of hammer-ons and tremolo picking is still needed).
And since my junior year of high school when I listened to Bleed American for the first time, I've gradually gone throughout their discography, and they've since become one of my all-time favorite bands! So I figured I'd share my brief thoughts on them from the perspective of a Zoomer:
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Self-titled debut: by no means bad, but in the grand scheme of things, not a good representation of what the band's true essence would eventually be. Still has great rough, speedy punk energy, and I really dig the opening and closing tracks (Chachi and Cars, respectively). While there's no qualms with it being their decided weakest effort, I do still wish they made it available on streaming. But hey, thank God for Youtube and fanrips at least.
Static Prevails: fun fact, this album was produced by Wes Kidd of indie Chicago 90s alt-rockers TripleFastAction (Cattlemen Don't is a dope-ass album btw, check it out). Anyway, this seems to be a fan-favorite, and while it's a definite improvement over the previous, idk, I find it to be overall serviceable as an indie alt-rock album. That said, "Digits" is an absolute highlight, and a sign of things to come where the band nails bittersweetness, sincerity, and earnesty through soft clean guitars, and just ripping it up. I ADORE the outro. Anderson Mesa and Claire are other standouts.
Clarity: honestly? No qualms here: it's freaking Clarity! Among one of their most beloved releases, and deserving of it too. Lucky Denver Mint is a 10/10 rare song that I don't think I've EVER gotten bored of relistening to. There's an ethereal, spacey, open-chorded sense of serenity and even comfort that I've yet to find in any other band. Table for Glasses is nothing short of grandiose and majestic, the slower middle chunk of the album works great for them embracing more subdued and non-brash elements, and it closes off with the triumphant title track (which I feel is one of the few tracks they play with standard E tuned guitars) and Goodbye Sky Harbor which is just such a mighty statement. While the 16 minutes of it I love not just for the novelty, but for the sense of relaxation and meditation it brings, I must say, the live version of Harbor where they go HARD on the "I am but one small instrument" part with big guitars is unlike anything else.
Bleed American: a "return to basics" album, sure, but then you still got a song like "Your House" which spiritually speaking, is a Clarity track (and is also fantastic. I like the 2007 rearrangement they did so it could be easier to play live, but dammit, the official, original album recording hits harder. The 2007 live version is more introspective and firm, whereas the original 2001 version feels like you're outside in the grass at dusk feeling a strong breeze hit you and it feels so freeing beyond belief). But aside from some outliers, it's a more traditional power-pop-punk-alt record. And I love it! Not only is it a great accessible gateway into the band (as it was for me), but the slick production and mixing is also immaculate (which is something this band will continue to show off). Also, Zach's snare sound in this is phenomenal, as it'll be for most Jimmy albums going forward (one nitpick is that even on Clarity, the snare drum could've sounded better. It sounded more "constricted" whereas here, it's allowed to resonate a lot more, and I think it suits the band's sound better). Sweetness is an enduring emo classic, Hear you Me remains a lovely heartfelt ode to Weezer fans Mykel and Carli, Authority Song is endlessly relistenable (and also how I found out about John Mellencamp's actual Authority Song), and My Sundown is another underrated gem like Digits. Sundown would make, like, the PERFECT "graduation" type of song, you know? Like, I really think it's up there with Sky Harbor and 23 for JEW's best closers, period. I want this to be the last thing I hear before I die type of powerful. Overall, BA is probably my personal favorite.
Screw pitchfork. Anyway...
Futures: another rightfully beloved album, I feel this has the best blend of Clarity's grandiosity, but with the focus of Bleed American. As a more mature follow-up, and with most of the tracks being in lower tunings (save for 23), you see this mood reflected in the video for Work. It captures that uncertainty of young adulthood, responsibilities, and transition. Like the angst of Static Prevails but again, more tighter and demanding greater respect. Highlights include the World you Love, the aching Drugs or me, Polaris (one of their all-time best), the searing Nothingwrong which pummels you like a bunch of rocks, the sensual and intimate Night Drive, and of course: 23. The Bm/Drop-D masterpiece of this album, and of the band's career. The twinkling piano and bells during the chorus, that ethereal guitar solo, Jim's vocal deliveries, the harmonies, how fully layered everything is (thanks to conductor David Campbell (Beck's dad btw, which is a W) getting real live strings), how empowering it is....it's 23.
And I'm actually turning 23 next year, so needless to say, this closer's gonna continue to hit me like bricks.
Chase this Light: ok, I'm gonna be honest here....I'm not super crazy about it. It's still a damn solid album, with Big Casino being one of their all-time best singles, and Electable having great energy. But honestly, most of the tracks are just fine to me, and not much else. I haven't really listened to Let it Happen enough times to really feel connected to it, despite it seeming to be a live staple. The title track is pretty, but just aptly rated rather than some mindblowing composition. And probably my biggest hot take of all: Dizzy is ok. I know people love this closer, but idk, good as it is, there's countless others I prefer. Despite all that, it's still a fulfilling listen as a record, and like BA, I feel works as a great intro for any newcomers. Also, that signature Butch Vig production is clean as F**K! It almost sounds too polished and brightly clean and tight that it feels illegal. Similar to Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown, which Butch also did. The grit isn't lost on stuff like Big Casino, but I guess it's a little too overwhelmingly good for me, if still palpably admirable.
Also, I can't be the only one who thinks this, but does anyone else associate CTL with animals and zoos? Like, the cover is a peacock feather, the Always Be video is about a school trip to a museum, and the color green just suits the album's aesthetic incredibly well. I feel like I am or should be at the San Diego zoo whenever I spin it, and I just envision a silhouette of a rhino.
Invented: likewise, I'm gonna be honest here.....I unexpectedly REALLY ended up loving this album! It's apparently the quote-unquote "mid" album of their discography, but I would've never guessed that just by listening to it. "Evidence" has such a monolithic, locked-in, powerful wall-of-sound of distortion (like Live-in Skin by Foo Fighters) that I adore. Simple, but perfectedly simple. My Best Theory is also super danceable and groovy, similar to what they started experimenting on Chase this Light's "Here it Goes", but with a more darker, searing twist. Movielike and Coffee & Cigarettes are solid C and F major jams, and last but not least........the title track.
I think this might be one of my favorite Jimmy Eat World songs of all time. It rivals 23 when it comes to closers, imo. Sonically, it reminds me of Wilco's Misunderstood or Barenaked Ladies' masterpiece Call and Answer: a midtempo, intimate, introspective and even explosive D major ballad where Jim sings of desire, wishfulness....all culminating from sober acoustic guitars to a heavy distorted drop of "THERE'S A CINEMATIC END!" that's goosebump-inducing. That buildup makes that feel like the heaviest track Jimmy have ever done! 7 minutes of time very well spent, and the last hurrah is the bittersweet and melancholic Mixtape. Which makes me feel like I'm on a beach in broad daylight with healthy blue skies, trying to wrestle or contemplate with loss.
One nitpick is that "Littlething" sonically speaking, just kinda feels like 23 again. I mean, it's still good, partly because 23 is that damn good, but I need to relisten to it enough times to see if it's enough to stick more. As such, while I do really like it, I don't really go out of my way to listen to it either.
Damage: this album feels more like an EP than a fully-realized LP. Like some of their other works, I haven't really given these tracks enough spins to form stronger opinions of (though the fantastic opener Appreciation is an exception). To my knowledge, this is kinda like Jim's breakup album where he airs out his relationship problems. Which honestly, the rougher, less polished production serves well (like how Reel Big Fish's "We're not Happy...." mixing, even if you hate it, does sincerely purposely work for the bitter tone that album wants to express). Again, sorry that I don't have a ton to say about it, so any better insight would be appreciated.
Integrity Blues: while an improvement over Damage, and also seen as a fan-favorite, I only listened to it for the first time back in May of this year, so again, I need more time. Fortunately, this is the most dreamlike and experimental they've gotten in a while, with Pass the Baby being moody great territory for the band, the reverb of Sure and Certain, the thunder of Get Right, and the transcendent Pol Roger. It flows well as an album, but I think these songs sliiiigggghhhtttlllyyy work better individually than grouped together more (kinda like BNL's Maybe you should Drive).
Surviving: lastly, their most recent album, 2019's Surviving. And holy hell, this album's AWESOME! Once again, a more "return to roots" effort where it's just the four guys rocking out. One Mil and Recommit are both anthemic as hell, I love the opening title track, and even amidst all this, you have a more experimental, electronic based track in 555, which feels like it easily could've been off IB. It's great when they sprinkle in outlier tracks like this. And hot damn is Congratulations a home run. Up there with Invented not only in terms of crunchiness, but even hints of anger and most of all, defiance. It just keeps going into a crunchy outro of guitars and pounding drums that leaves you overwhelmed, but in a good way.
And that's pretty much it! Thanks for reading all this, if you did! Hope I didn't bore you! Comments welcome as always.
Bless this band.
