| Jimmy Eat World: Chase This Light |
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| Posted by Mark Fisher |
02:30 PM Tuesday, 08 January 2008 |
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 Chase This Light, the latest offering from the now comfortably major label Jimmy Eat World, has its work cut out for it. After the stellar self-titled album (aka Bleed American) put the band on the mainstream map, they lost a lot of steam with the more experimental Futures. If you have hesitated to give this album a chance, let me encourage you to get back in the water. It's safe again. Jimmy Eat World are back to making big, anthemic emotional statements that will surely please any fan of self-titled or Clarity.
As the opening chorus of "Big Casino" hits you know the band is in fine form. The emotionally charged crescendo is classic Jimmy as the band explodes singing:"Fire up the system/Play my little part in something big/ I'll accept with poise, with grace when they draw my name from the lottery/ And they'll say ‘all the salt in the world couldn't melt that ice!'/ I'm the one who gets away/I'm a New Jersey success story..." The song kicks off the album so unbelievably well that you ride the euphoria throughout the entire first half of the disc. Repeated listens reveal a myriad of excellent songs but initially you get stuck in a good way) on "Big Casino." "Let It Happen," "Electable (Give It Up)," and "Firefight" keep the pace bringing the self-titled album's best moments to mind while exhibiting a maturity and grace that only time can bring to a band. "Gotta Be Somebody Blues" hints at the risk taking offered on Futures noting that regrets are few and reminding longtime fans that these lads are no longer a one trick pony. It's alternative rock acoustic sound and gentle strings are perfectly placed on the album, as if purposefully pausing for reflection in the midst of the celebration. The more intimate sound of "Here It Goes" and "Chase This Light" are excellent as well, proving yet again that Jimmy are THE bridge between emo and rock, while flexing the musical muscles that bench pressed bands like Killers, Modest Mouse, and Ok Go into the mainstream. This is unquestionably not the same band that recorded and toured Clarity and, for my money, that's a good thing. Jimmy Eat World is older, wiser, and flat out better than they were a decade ago. Chase This Light is a not so subtle indication that the best is yet to come. The band sound reborn on this album and it will be exciting to see where the road leads them. |
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