Jimmy Eat World has been around since the mid-90s, but the band just recently began to garner true praise. Their first big success was their second major label release, 1999’s Clarity. It was an instant hit across college radio stations with tracks like “Lucky Denver Mint” and “Blister” finding a real niche with fans of “emo” music.
Then in 2001 everything changed. The band released Bleed American under the Dreamworks label and fans found catchy pop rock. Both fans and the music media praised “The Middle,” Jimmy Eat World’s second single from the disc. It could easily be considered the song of the summer for 2002, as it was omnipresent on the airways.
The band’s newest album, Futures, finds the members confused as to what they want it to be. Fans of Bleed American will be let down as the group seems to forget that it was ever made. It must’ve just been their “awkward phase,” because they’ve almost completely reverted to songs that sound straight off of Clarity.
A lot of the new material sounds like they recorded it in ’99, put it in a time capsule and opened it last week. The only way really to describe this collection of songs that makes up the bulk of Futures is to call it uninspired and generic. Normally this would spell demise for an album, but there’s some light at the end of this tunnel of bland music.
Of the 11 tracks on this record, eight fit into the first category described. What about the other three? Well, they’re actually good.
The first single from Futures is “Pain,” a heavier tune. Well, heavy for Jimmy Eat World. That’s like saying Michael Bolton’s new release has a really indie feel to it…not that it couldn’t, it’s just not his typical style. It seems like they were aiming for the sort of raw sound that people liked so much on recent releases by the Strokes or the Hives but don’t really pull it off as well as one would hope. The song has some nice guitar work and a pretty decent bridge as well. As is the case with most of the band’s hits, the chorus is incredibly catchy and gets ingrained into the listener’s heads. The focus of the song is rather unclear, but apparently Jim Adkins (lead vocals/guitar) is feeling rather self-conscious: “Anyone can see my every flaw. / It isn’t hard.” He sings of “white pills” that “take [his] pain away.” Confusing indeed. That aside, this is a great song.
The two other somewhat original songs on this release are “Futures” and “Nothingswrong.” They are both in the same vein as “Pain,” utilizing a harder guitar-driven sound. In particular, “Nothingswrong” has some fairly heavy riffs that sound nothing like previous work by the band. While not incredibly memorable, they are still decent tracks and stand out as different in a sea of plain songs.
As always, Adkins croons along while Tim Linton (guitar/vocals) harmonizes shamelessly. Harmony is a great thing to have in songs, but it just seems a bit much at times. Give your voice a break, Timmy. You’re not needed on every single chorus.
One of the oddest things to be found on Futures is “Night Drive.” It starts off as an acoustic guitar with some light cooing over it, but somewhere along the line a clap is added in along with the baseline. At first it seems unreal, yet for some baffling reason the band thought it’d be cool to toss one in. Well, it’s not. From here on the rule will be, “Unless it’s rap, cut the clap.” End of story.
This record has no unique features, quite frankly. If Jimmy Eat World at least tried to differentiate itself from the 50 other bands that sound just like it, maybe it would work. As is, it’s just not getting the job done. Fans of the band will likely label this their best release yet, but it’s just not. It comes off as forgettable and dull music. As Adkins pleads, “Please don’t tell me this has been in vain.”
Sorry Jim … better luck next time.
Grade: C/D
