Why I Like It:
Here's a question for you reader, have you ever had a band that you liked at the surface level, maybe from their radio single hits, then realize (years later) that's there's treasure trove of excellent material to discover?
There's a couple bands that this has happened to me for- Deftones, The Goo Goo Dolls, and Paramore. It's one of the most exciting times, as a music enthusiast, because there's a vast expanse of new sounds to uncover, and you know you might discover your new favorite song or album. To compare it with another hobby of mine, it's like discovering your new favorite mountain to hike, that you know you will be returning to routinely, as you explore your first trail.
This very phenomenon happen to me with Jimmy Eat World (or JEW as some coin), somewhat recently, and my new favorite album ended up being Clarity.
As you may guess, I was into the "The Middle" and "Sweetness", when they were dominating the radio of the early 2000s. However I never bought a JEW (yaaa that's the last time I use that anacronym I think) album or downloaded anymore songs off LimeWire. Now we are in the 2020s, I was couped up in a house, with no face to face human interactions, and was feeling the emotional atmospheric guitar music from the likes of American Football, Texas Is The Reason, and The Jazz June. Discovering something like Clarity was just a hop, skip, and a jump away.
I think my favorite aspect of this album was Jimmy Eat World's throw it all at the wall approach, as they knew this would be last time they have Capitol Records label money to spend on an album. Everything from choosing the slower opening track "Table for Glasses", to embody punk and say screw doing a fast hooky song first, to adding instruments like the cello and organ. Or deciding to make you last song, "Good-bye Sky Harbor", 16 minuets to take up the rest of the run time of the tape reel. I've made a whole playlist of songs like "Good-bye Sky Harbor" because I love it that much.
Fun fact- this is the album where Jim Adkins officially becomes the lead singer. Before it was Tom Linton, who does one song as the lead vocalist in Clarity, which is "Blister".
If you haven't looked into the Jimmy Eat World discography yet, I urge you to do so. You may discover your own favorite album. Maybe it will be the punkier Static Prevails or the follow up to Bleed America, Futures, which many hardcore fans like to say is their favorite. It's a fun debate to read through on sites like Reddit, while in-between the holidays of Christmas and New Years.
My albums of 2024 awards will likely be released in January, so stay tuned and happy New Years!
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Highlighted song and lyrics:
Crush- "Take in restraint like a breath/ My lungs are so numb from holding back"
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Similar bands to check out:
Christie Front Drive, Sense Field, JeJune, Mineral
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Links to check out:
60 songs that explain the 90s- An overview of JEW's beginnings and "The Middle"
Washed Up Emo Radio- Track by track breakdown of Clarity
Pitchfork.com- Review
If You're Listening- Blind listen of Clarity
*The podcast that convinced me to listen to Clarity
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