Album Review: Jimmy Eat World - Damage

Album Grade: C

As someone with little experience in the fields of adulthood and breakups, I was left with plenty of questions when Jim Adkins announced his group’s latest effort would be an “adult breakup record.” As far as I could tell, all breakups are fundamentally the same; perhaps the parting of adults is more amicable and less hormonally-charged than that of two young adults or twenty-somethings, but the sting of being told, or telling, you are incompatible with another human, someone who was once the center of your world, must still feel the same, right? Bearing this question in mind, I approached Damage as an opportunity to hear the traditional breakup record handled with grace and flipped on its head.

Jukebox: Jimmy Eat World - I Will Steal You Back

Jimmy Eat World has always excelled at writing music about relationships and latest single "I Will Steal You Back" is no exception. Frontman Jim Adkins has described forthcoming album Damage as an "adult breakup record," and the theme is palpable on this track. It's a decidedly less romantic take on rekindling love, Adkins looks to 'steal' back his lover back after a lie has driven a wedge between him and his unnamed suitor, with an acknowledgement that Adkins is fighting a battle he's "sure to lose," but there's beauty in his hopelessness. His voice drips with yearning and the subtle inflections of words like "walls" make the emotions more palpable, the nuances more pronounced. Adkins has an ear for detail and puts it to good use on here in stark contrast to the overblown arrangements that dulled down 2010's Invented.

Damage was rumored to have a focus on acoustic guitar, but that element isn't as prevalent as the band's descriptions would have you believe. The acoustic is very much as part of the song, but it is far from the main attraction after the first verse. However, the purity of the acoustic strums provide a very nice accent for the main riffs and plucky bass. This is a new look for Jimmy Eat World, but still sounds very much like the group as it could have been a cut off of Clarity if the production sounded like that on Chase This Light. The ways the elements mesh work almost too perfectly, making "I Will Steal You Back" one of the stronger, if more contrived, songs JEW has made in the past seven years.

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Artist Of The Day: Jimmy Eat World

Ah, Jimmy Eat World. Jumping in on the second wave of emo music a bit late in the game, the band nonetheless released a couple of fantastic records in the day. Alas, though, like many emo bands of the time period, they just weren't able to stick with their sound. The last record that I listened to and really liked was Clarity, so I won't even delve into anything past that (Bleed American fans, hate all you want, I still am never going to say anything good about it).

Static Prevails was the tidy little album that could have been so much more, had Capitol Records decided it should be. However, with all of the pop-punk hits on the album, it's like the entire record was designed for lots of radio hits, which would be instant advertising for the band - and the record company. Unfortunate to say the least, since there are some nice tracks on the record like "Anderson Mesa" and "Seventeen," and the entire album has potential to be like that.

Live Review: Leeds Festival, Part 3 Of 3

Friday and Saturday of Leeds 2011 had been great, but even a cursory look at the lineup would tell you that the third and final day was where the fun and games lay. The NME/Radio 1 and Festival Republic Stages looked strong as ever, while the Lock-Up Stage made a welcome return after it had been transformed to the Dance Stage the day before. The days highlights didn't take much seeking out, though, since most of them were positioned on the Main Stage. Things came to a head with the festivals' first 'co-headliners,' The Strokes and Pulp, but there was also gold to be found earlier on in the day, with critical darlings The National, emo legends Jimmy Eat World and timeless festival veterans Madness all coming in late afternoon. It was a day that promised much, and proved to live up to every expectation and then some...

SUNDAY (28/08/2011)

After two days which had been mixed at best on the weather front, the sunshine finally made a long overdue appearance late on Sunday morning. This only worked to improve the atmosphere on site, but Main Stage openers The Joy Formidable still had the strong wind to contend with. Nevertheless, the Welsh rockers managed to battle the elements and played a solid set drawing from their excellent debut album The Big Roar - which is one of my personal favourites from this year. Some of their unnecessary instrumental jams did get lost in the bluster, but the quality of songs such as 'Whirring' and 'The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade' was more than enough to see them reign supreme. There are plenty of bands out there that try to resurrect the qualities of grunge and shoegaze, but few do it as well as this trio, and although this wasn't the best I've seen them it was still a solid way to get the day underway.

Albums Of The Year 2010 #8: Jimmy Eat World - Invented

Veterans Jimmy Eat World seem to have two different styles of albums they put out. There is the darker, more emotional Clarity and Futures and there is the lighter and poppier Bleed American and Chase This Light. Invented falls mostly into the first category.  First single "My Best Theory" is one of the "heaviest" songs that Jimmy Eat World has ever done, bringing almost ambient guitar playing to the verses before exploding out with riffs and harmonies in the chorus. "Movielike" could be a for-sure top 40 hit with its extremely smooth production and the simple, catchy hook. However, the ballads at the end of the album are definitely the strength of Invented. "Cut" is the first, singing from the female's point of view of a relationship with acoustic verses and huge choruses. The title track is a seven minute epic containing the best lyrics on the record and vocalist Jim Atkins singing fairly stripped done from Jimmy Eat World's usual vocal style. Female harmonies add to the emotional impact of the song, and the climax where the song simply blows up both vocally and instrumentally is possibly the best moment of the album. "Mixtape" simply adds to Jimmy Eat World's long time reliance on the excellent closer of an album, a song worthy of being in the same sentence as "Goodbye Sky Harbor", "Dizzy", "23", and "My Sundown". Jimmy Eat World consistently makes strong albums, and although Invented is nothing new or groundbreaking, it's more proof that Jimmy Eat World is one of the best artists out there. The band's been making albums for over ten years now, and there seems to be no end in sight. Listen to Jimmy Eat World on Myspace here.