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JIMMY EAT WORLD |
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ONLINE ONLY SPECIAL BONUS FEATURE
A BRIGHT FUTURE LOOMS AHEADby Ernie Thomas
Mesa, Arizona’s emo/punk group, Jimmy Eat World, has rocked their way through six record labels over the course of making nine albums, since they formed during their high school years. The music press and their rabid fans all seem to agree that their latest, Futures, is also the band’s greatest. “I definitely think we have made a really strong album,” agreed drummer Zack Lind of the album they released last month via Interscope Records, that got a jump start with its debut single, “Pain.” “We’re very happy with it.” Interscope absorbed Dreamworks Records in a corporate merger last year and inherited Jimmy Eat World’s contract in the process, fortunately they decided to given a strong push to the band’s follow up effort to their 2001 breakthrough album, Bleed American, re-titled after 9/11 to simply, Jimmy Eats World. Released late last month, the 11-song Futures, still finds the group wearing its collective heart on its sleeve, but it is the most diverse collection of songs in their catalog to date –– running the gamut of hard rock (“Pain”/“Futures”), pop (“Kill”/“The World You Love”) and piano ballads (“Drugs or Me”). There is even a cool Chicago connection this time around, as Wrigleyville’s Liz Phair guests with the lads on the tasty guitar-pop dittie, “Work,” a derivative of Phair’s own “Divorce Song” (from her breakthrough CD, Exile In Guyville). Producer Gil Norton (Pixies/Foo Fighters), working with Jimmy Eat World for the first time, provided them with a stellar guitar sound and extremely bright harmonies. Lind even noted that he feels his drumming has never sounded better on record. “We loved working with Gil. He had a lot of great ideas and brought the best out in us I think,” said Lind. When talking about the band's rocky early years, Lind said he values the hard knocks the band took, because it gave them character and taught them valuable lessons. “I can see how looking from the outside, if you read our bio sheet and see how we have been on and off labels, that it might appear like our career has been a roller coaster ride,” said Lind. “But from our point of view though, it has been a pretty steady progression from one album to the next. We did experience a lot of weird times, but I think those experiences taught us a lot.” Though signing with Capitol in 1996 and releasing two albums –– “Static Prevails” and “Clarity” –– was an exciting time, losing their contract in 2000 was not nearly as devastating as one might think for Lind, bassist Rick Burch, guitarist/vocalists Tom Linton and Jim Adkins. “Capitol Records were not pro-actively trying to get the band out there. Looking back, I think it was a good thing that we did not have success right off the bat. If our first album with Capitol had blown up and sold three million albums, we probably would be done and dusted by now as a band. We certainly don’t have any ill will towards Capitol at all.” Lind testified how “running into dead ends” helps a band learn to survive. He knows that everything up to this point has made Jimmy Eat World what they are today and enabled them to make an album the caliber of Futures, which for a limited time is being marketed as both a standard single CD ($13.98 list) and as a “fan-friendly” 2-CD digi-pack ($19.98 list). The double-disc version includes a second CD featuring demo versions, which offers fans a chance to hear the album as a “work in progress” and see the progression of the songs from their raw stage to the finished product that is the Futures album. “We’ve all been friends for a long time. We have always believed that keeping the friendship strong keeps the band strong,” he said of how Jimmy Eat World managed to stay focused and unified during those lean pre-Dreamworks/Interscope years, when they toured America in a beat up Ford Club Wagon van. Lind admitted that it felt really good to see Bleed American/Jimmy Eat World become a million-selling record, thanks to the hit singles, “The Middle” and “Sweetness”. “The coolest thing about having a little bit of commercial success is that our old labels suddenly had an interest in getting our music out there,” laughed Lind, noting the band's pride in past albums. “The biggest up side of having commercial success is that for most of the time we’ve been together, we’ve always had to do the band around our day jobs. It’s nice to finally be able to focus solely on the band,” he reflected. “We were actually able to build a recording studio in our hometown where we can rehearse and work on songs whenever we like and it’s made us a much better band I think,” he said. Unlike some of their rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries, who indulge their rock star fantasies and spend their royalties like a drunken sailor on a three day leave, Jimmy Eat World, have invested in themselves. “We figured we might as well take the money and pay for something like the studio while we had the money to do it,” he said. “So that in the future, when we don’t have a dime, we will still have a place where we can go and make music for free.” While it is refreshing to see a rock group so well grounded and aware that success can sometimes be fleeting in the “feast or famish” music industry, most music journalists and record stores are not expecting Jimmy Eat World to fade away anytime soon. Almost prophetically titled, Futures, seems to be guaranteeing that Jimmy Eat World has just that –– a future. KEVIN CHALFANT & THE STORM will perform with Lisa McClowery @ 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 3 @ Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso, IN More info @ (219) 464-1636 |
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