Photo: Press
Never underestimate Jimmy Eat World. Dismissing JEW as another sickly-sweet band of miserabilists for young teens to wallow in would be an underestimation of criminal proportions. This band are in fact masters of well-crafted hook-ridden gems that find the perfect balance between articulate, thoughtful sensitivity and inescapably infectious pop-rock. Since 1994, they've been paving the way for a generation of artists in a genre they now reject - emo.
Their eighth studio album Damage was released on Monday. Carrying all of the hallmarks of the classic Jimmy Eat World sound, it stands as a testament to why they've stood the test of time of with mature and heartfelt song-craftsmanship.
Ahead of their appearance at Download festival this weekend and their headline show at Koko in London, we caught up with the band's frontman Jim Adkins to discuss their legacy, evolution and why 'emo is dead'...
The last time you were in London, you played your classic albums Bleed American and Clarity in full. It was an amazing show. Did you guys learning anything from revisiting those records in such depth?
It's interesting. The cycle of life for a song goes through writing and rough ideas then a band editing process then you record it and new possibilities might open up. Then you have to go on tour so you go 'huh, how are we going to play this thing that we've been working on?' With the Clarity and Bleed American material the last time we had 'that' band meeting was about 12 or 15 years ago, so coming back to listen to it and try to replicate it we realised we'd forgotten about certain things hidden in the songs. It was interesting to re-learn and re-interpret the material.
Did looking at the ways those songs were put together teach you anything that you carried forward into the making of this record?
Maybe in the sense that a lot of material on Damage is less reliant on the studio. It didn't change very much from the 'band fleshing out period'. It was quite organic.
Watch 'Bleed American' by Jimmy Eat World below
Damage is a fine album. It seems to carry that classic 'essence' of Jimmy Eat World and you guys just seem to sound more comfortable than before. Can you think of any reasons why that may be more so on this album than on other recent records?
I don't spend a whole lot of time analysing that, but I guess it's true. We made damage in a similar way to our other records where there's no real outside presence other than what we want because we're pretty good at putting pressure on ourselves. It might be a bi-product of only living up to our own expectations.
Damage also feels more like a 'songwriter's album' - does that make sense to you?Yes, I can see that take on it. It's definitely more about the idea of a song than a riff. It's just about 'the song', if that makes sense.
You guys are often described as the 'forefathers of emo'. How do you feel about what emo has become and what does it mean in the context of what you do?
Thinking back to the time when I was 16 or 17 growing up close to California on the West Coast, you realise that any kind of genre or broad spectrum title like 'punk' or 'hardcore' depends a lot on where and when you experience to make sense of what it is. To me, 'emo' and 'hardcore' were almost interchangeable. If it ever meant anything to describe music it was super-dynamic stuff with the singer rolling around on the ground screaming really abrasive and agressive stuff with a lot of spoken word stuff. Any kind of music that becomes popular beyond the people who created it is dead, and now it just seems beyond dead. It doesn't mean that there are things that I don't like about it, it just means that I don't know what it means.
Watch 'I Will Steal You Back' by Jimmy Eat World below
It has become quite a throwaway term.
I throw it away every time I hear it.
Exactly, to think of the word 'emo', you wouldn't really think of the sort of band that could write a song like 'Table for Glasses' or 'Disintegration'. Do you get frustrated with how misleading it can be when applied to Jimmy Eat World?
I've never understood it. We like what we like and we do what we do but it means nothing to us.
Speaking of 'Disintegration', that track felt like quite a departure for you guys. It was a little bit post-punk and quite Joy Division-esque. Do you see Jimmy Eat World heading back in that direction in the near future?
You never know, man. When we're writing it's about exploring all ideas to their full potential - whether they make it on to an album and get beyond our rehearsal space or not. If we get into a whole lot of Joy Division material then that's what it's going to be. If we start rapping then that's what it's going to be.
Can you rap?
No, so it's probably not going to be rap. That was an extreme example. Tom can do a bitchin' 'Going Back To Cali' but that's about it.
What are your karaoke favourites?
I seem to do a lot of mid-80s hard-rock like Ratt and stuff like that.
Watch 'Disintegration' by Jimmy Eat World below
Ahead of this weekend, do you guys ever feel daunted about playing such a metal-heavy festival like Download?
No, not really. We're not the heaviest band on the bill but that works in our favour. The longer you hear one sound, the more open you are to others. We jump around so much when we're writing, recording and playing but they're not all heavy metal riffs, but they're also not all stoner-rock riffs or acoustic ballads. It'll be fun and a great night. We'll play stuff that's fitting and we do tailor our stuff around certain aspects. Because it's a music festival it would be boring to play more mellow stuff instead of the stuff that translates well in a club or a night out - and that's not because we're scared of all the heavy stuff happening around us.
You're set at Glastonbury 2011 was a pretty instense blast of hits, quite a victory. How was that for you?
It was great. We'd never played Glastonbury before, but it was such a massive and famous event that we were just thrilled to be part of it.
Beyond Download and Koko, when are you guys going to be back in the UK?
Sooner rather than later - watch this space.
Jimmy Eat World play the Zippo Encore Stage at Download festival at 6.20pm on Saturday 15 June, before they play a headline show at Koko in London on Sunday 16 June. For more information visit Gigwise Gig Tickets.
