This may seem like a stretch to some, but it's weird that Jimmy Eat World isn't one of the biggest bands in the world. Maybe it's the fact that rock music is no longer a dominant pop genre. Maybe it's because the band hit right when the music industry began feeling the encroachment of digital media. There are many factors to consider. Whatever the case, it's odd that they aren't near the top tier of modern rock groups like the Foo Fighters or at least marginal, modern arena-fillers like Imagine Dragons.
Musically, Jimmy Eat World has everything you'd want from a popular rock band: wildly melodic songs that appeal to all age ranges, earworm singles that burrow into your brain, a great live show, and the ability to make happy songs sound like a blast and bummer tunes feel like a warm embrace.
Jimmy Eat World's sad songs aren't downers because they aren't focused on sorrow or rage or stewing over heartbreak. The tunes the band writes, paired with singer and guitarist Jim Adkins' lyrics and vocals, radiate with an incredible ethereal longing. They're rooted in a hopefully melancholy, the poignancy of a hopeful dreamer who hasn't found love or fulfillment yet.
That optimistic outlook has fueled Jimmy Eat World since the start. The major label headaches surrounding 1999's Clarity might've broken lesser bands, but the album became a seminal underground classic in the alternative and emo scenes with its serene sense of majesty in the small moments of crushes, fireworks and quiet contemplation. And it set the table (for glasses), for 2001's breakthrough smash Bleed American. Propelled by the inescapable singles "The Middle" and "Sweetness," it almost instantly became a beloved alt-rock touchstone for a generation — one that could caress with softness one moment and rock all the way out the next. The follow-up to the major success — 2004's Futures — stands as arguably the group's best album, where the heaviness and shredding was at its peak ("Pain") and the dreamy slow tracks like "23" were completely undeniable. And don't sleep on the wildly underrated Chase This Light from 2007, sneakily one of the best power pop records ever made.
And even if the general public has cooled on the band a bit since its 2002 rock radio heydays, the group is still putting out incredibly solid records with (at least) a banger or two on each album. (The single "All the Way (Stay)" from 2019's Surviving could fit in perfectly on Bleed American, and nobody would notice it was made almost 20 years later.) There's a commitment to the craft and the vision that keeps Jimmy Eat World a going concern.
"Creatively, you just have to be honest with yourself about what you're into and really put your effort into chasing the ideas you're excited about. And be just being brutal with disregarding anyone else's opinions about it," Adkins says.
"I'm under no illusions that even our most hardcore fans are not going to be flipping out over everything we do. And it's kind of pointless to try to chase the imaginary listener who you think might like something. If you're making creative decisions based on what an imaginary listener might like, you're just going to turn them off," Adkins adds. "But I think if you're honest with yourself about doing the thing that you were excited about, not everyone might like it, but the right people will find it. And maybe there's enough of them to be able to gas up the van to get to the next town."
Thankfully for local music fans, that "next town" is Spokane, as Jimmy Eat World stops at the Podium for a co-headlining tour with the also superb Manchester Orchestra on July 14.
As someone who often attends 100-plus concerts per year, I can attest that Jimmy Eat World consistently delivers extremely high-end live shows in all formats. The band killed it as a co-headliner with Taking Back Sunday at the Pavilion two years ago, and two of my favorite sets ever came courtesy of Jimmy Eat World: an relentless and intimate bar band gig for like 100 people at South by Southwest in 2017 and a blissful headlining set at the Wilma in Missoula back in 2007.
"Both of those kinds of shows are fun," Adkins says when I mention those beloved gigs. "People always think that serious artists need to have something that's a little bit more challenging to digest. But I love candy, you know? There's really nothing wrong with a bunch of people freaking out over something that you made. [Laughs.] Don't shy away from that, just because you're excited about something you just did. That's you, too."
That said, there is obviously something Adkins enjoys about playing for devoted fans in headlining situations versus trying to win over crowds that might not be there to see his band.
"I'm looking forward to playing some deeper-cut material [on this tour]. The last few big tours we've done, we were clearly a support act. And we've done a lot of festivals, too. And they're all amazing and fun, but it's just a different vibe," says Adkins. "This tour with Manchester Orchestra is more like a shared hosting party. People are going to be able to handle some deeper album songs, I think. There's not a ton of people that either of us will have to win over. So we can kind of be ourselves a little bit more. [Laughs.]"
Perhaps the reason Jimmy Eat World's music still resonates after all these years is as simple as the guys still enjoying making music together. There are few musicians out there who don't get beaten down by the toll the music industry and touring life takes on physical and mental health, but Adkins and Co. still find reasons to be positive and grow as people through their art.
"Sometimes when you're really close to it, it's hard to see the bigger picture. You're so invested in what you're working on and the minutiae of it all. That can really just blot out every other thing. And you forget that there really is a bigger picture here. And what you're doing right now is just a part of it," Adkins says. "If this thing doesn't quite resonate, with whatever metric you feel is validating, then just make more. Or focus on the stuff that that did, and be stoked that it did. Because not everybody gets that."
Adkins cites that curiosity and openness to grow as the reason Jimmy Eat World still makes music that fans of all ages continue to find and appreciate.
"I describe it as remaining teachable. If you're trying to discover things that aren't on your radar, you're going to find some. And maybe the older that you get, that comes in the form of being willing to throw out core beliefs about yourself that you think are your foundation. Sometimes that happens," Adkins says. "And from a listeners' perspective, that sounds like discovery. Which is also a lot of what music that I wrote in my 18- to 20-year-old time — when things were brand new. It's the same sort of experience, internally. 'Oh this has been here this whole f—-ing time? Shit.' It's this epiphany that makes its way into a lot of music that we do."
Sure the physical and emotionally draining toll comes in waves. It's part of the job. But for the guys, it doesn't make any sense to get jaded at the possibility of sharing new music as they age.
"I think that's kind of like the ego's defense jumping in and giving you a reason to push people away because you're afraid of rejection," Adkins says. "Like, 'Man, whatever. They're not gonna like this anyway!' That can be self-fulfilling the more you lean into that. If you really are tormented about this whole process, then just stop. Do anything else, enjoy your life."
"Sometimes, really the only thing that keeps it all from falling apart is the fact that you're proud of what you did. If you don't have that, man... good luck! [Laughs.]"
"The longer that we do this, and maybe it's something that comes with the older I get, but it's easier to find gratitude in smaller and smaller things. You know what I mean? It doesn't take a whole lot for me to be like, 'Oh, man. This is awesome! [Laughs.] Can you believe where I'm at right now?' Because... you know... it ends."
Someday this rock and roll dream will end for Adkins. But for now, Jimmy Eat World is still in the middle of the ride. ♦
Jimmy Eat World, Manchester Orchestra, Middle Kids • Fri, July 14 at 7 pm • $49-$69 • All ages • The Podium • 511 W. Dean Ave • thepodiumusa.com
