Sometimes bands fall into a pattern where they follow a very strong album with a not-so-strong one, and then repeat the cycle. Having followed the excellent 2004 disc Futures<\/i> with the altogether too-shiny Chase The Light <\/i>(2007), Tempe, Arizona\u2019s Jimmy Eat World rebounded strongly with 2010\u2019s Invented<\/i>. Time for another letdown? <\/p>\n
No sir (or ma\u2019am). The new album Damage<\/i> is a very strong outing from the Jimmys\u2014Jim Adkins (lead vocals\/guitars), Zach Lind (drums), Rick Burch (bass) and Tom Linton (guitars\/vocals)\u2014a mature breakup album that evidences significant growth from the band\u2019s earlier, younger records. It might not have the visceral impact of instant classics like Bleed American<\/i> (2001) and Futures<\/i>, but it\u2019s definitely one of their stronger albums.<\/p>\n
\u201cAppreciation\u201d kicks things off with a sharp, chunky riff and urgent vocals, challenging the listener with a herky-jerky rhythm that\u2019s not the easiest to groove to\u2014but the riffing and the vocal arrangement are strong and carry this one to a satisfying finish. The title track follows, taking a downbeat lyric and matching it with a bright, poppy arrangement that features Linton\u2019s chiming electric accents playing off of Adkins\u2019 acoustic rhythm guitar. It\u2019s an appealing if too-slick number for a group that\u2019s always benefited from a bit of a punk edge on their heavier tunes.<\/p>\n
\u201cLean\u201d is where this album hits its stride, a track whose sustained, steady-building intensity achieves uniquely-Jimmy liftoff. Standout track \u201cBook Of Love\u201d follows, tricking you with a sweet come-on, ringing acoustic guitars drawing you in until you hit the key line, \u201cThe book of love is fiction.\u201d Ouch. A bit bitter, are we? The song builds, urgent rhythm and appealing melody propelling it forward until the rhythm section drops out midway and the rest of the way it\u2019s just vocals over guitars\u2014a gorgeous effect that underscores the haunted poignancy of the song. <\/p>\n
The heart of the album arrives deep in this cut: \u201cAre they ever coming back again \/ Those feelings that we started with?\u201d More than the loss of his lover, it\u2019s that loss of feeling, the visceral high of falling and being in love, that haunts.<\/p>\n
In the album\u2019s big one-two punch, \u201cBook Of Love\u201d sets up \u201cI Will Steal You Back,\u201d a thrumming, ringing, anthemic first single that closes the first half of the album with an exclamation point. \u201cPlease Say No\u201d opens the second half on a somber note, a lofty, mournful ballad with a bit of Motown tambourine offering a nice little embellishment on the chorus.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019d You Have Me\u201d brings back the big riff, a surging anthem that shows off the Jimmys\u2019 gift for delivering ringing, memorable, heart-on-your-sleeve rockers. \u201cNo, Never\u201d has a finger-snapping tension in the rhythm that really billows out at the choruses, another Jimmy specialty. \u201cByebyelove\u201d alternates between quiet, tense moments and cloudbursts of guitar on the choruses, a climactic farewell.<\/p>\n
Closer \u201cYou Were Good\u201d offers a relative change of pace, a mostly acoustic, rather elegiac ballad, melancholy and nostalgic: \u201cIt was good, it was good \/ Then it was gone.\u201d And haven\u2019t we all been there, at some point?<\/p>\n
Damage<\/i> is full of typically appealing songcraft featuring a dynamic balance between heavy and light, with urgency and earnestness fueling these thrumming tunes. Twenty years on, Jimmy Eat World continues to find new ways to make music as big as their hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":31491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6683],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-43192","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jimmy-eat-world","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43192"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}