Why do we still care about Jimmy Eat World? Throw their name out in a conversation and you’ll be met with an equal amount of “Oh, Clarity was their best album” and “I’ve never really liked them”, a choice between disinterest and an album that came out 1999. If that’s the case, how are they still going and why have they just released their ninth album ‘Integrity Blues’?
For the last few years, Jimmy Eat World have maintained an unstoppable adoration from their most loyal fans but the music they’ve released just hasn’t been as good. Perhaps the audience has changed, no longer a generation of messed up teens and young adults desperate for a soundtrack to their growing up. Maybe, and probably, the band that peaked over a decade ago just aren’t exciting anymore – understandable when you’ve written that many songs already.
The unmistakable Jimmy sound remains. ‘You With Me’ opens with gentle drums and jangling guitars, and Jim Adkins’ soft, soothing singing still sounds like sunshine on a cloudy day; a warm blanket on a freezing evening; a cup of tea when you’re feeling blue… you get the drift. ‘Get Right’, a broodier – well, as broody as JEW get – effort has a darker edge but the angelic sounds of Adkins cut through again.
‘Pass The Baby’ unexpectedly journeys from bass to drum machine, from synths to heavy guitars, but it’s a struggle to get from beginning to end with so many stages and a fairly lengthy running time in the way. ‘Pretty Grid’ is similarly uninteresting but still not as boring as those who say JEW haven’t been good since ‘The Middle’.
For ultimate Jimmy, however, ‘The End Is Beautiful’ is the go to track. As the band always has done, they’ll tug at your heartstrings again, with a soaring chorus and the resounding hook, “it doesn’t have to hurt anymore”. They’ve written so many songs with the perfect combination of notes and words to get you right where you’ll feel it the most and if you could bottle and sell the skill you’d make millions.
Not many bands have had the same longevity as Jimmy Eat World and it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere soon. Honestly, we’d still be a little gutted if they broke up despite not releasing as another album as good as their best (it’s ‘Bleed American’ or ‘Futures’, FYI) in years. While plenty of us might be disinterested or have grown up and moved on, the pop melodies and emotional lyrics of JEW have given them a career far longer than most and we bloody love them for it.
KATHRYN BLACK