Driven Far Off

Anyone who knows the history of Jimmy Eat World knows that the band has had their up and down moments with record labels, writers block, and many other things. The bands popularity can be traced all the way back to their first album, but the band is mostly known for their fan favorite Clarity and chart topper Bleed America. With each new album over the years, Jimmy Eat World has fine tuned and perfected their sound creating a new feeling with each one of their releases. Bleed America was filled with emotional and catchy radio ready tunes, while Futures came after a run in with writers block and a fallout with their long time producer Mark Trombino. This lead to a darker time for Jimmy Eat World as they weren’t promoted by their label and failed to sell the numbers like they did with Bleed America. After Futures came a short EP titled Stay On My Side Tonight where the band continued their darker and emotionally deep side. With the band well refreshed after taking some time off and recording their sixth album in their own studio, they are back with a solid new album, Chase This Light.

The album opens with the bands first single “Big Casino,” you can hear the good spirit in this radio friendly rock track. The bands sound hasn’t changed much since Futures but you can hear happiness pour out of the guitars strum after strum. For the most part the band keeps things faster on this album with great tracks like “Let It Happen” and “Always Be” which could both follow as singles after “Big Casino.” “Carry You” sounds like a classic Jimmy song with emotional lyrics and a nice acoustic guitar mix. I found myself enjoying all of the tracks even after their first listen, something I could say I felt when first hearing Futures. “Electable (Give It Up)” is a fast fun track that can be compared to some of the bands older material like “Sweetness.” Coming in half way through the album is “Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues,” a slower track featuring strings and a soft drum beat. Its nothing stellar like “Here You Me” but that song was an instant classic for me. “Feeling Lucky” brings things back up to speed with its fast yet simple sound and lyrics about cutting a relationship short for its lack of any direction. “Here It Goes” has become one of my favorites on the album. The songs classic Jimmy guitar licks and catchy lyrics make it hit the ears with that passion that can only come from a longtime favorite like Jimmy Eat World. Wrapping up the album is “Dizzy” which emotionally and lyrically is one of the bands best writings yet to date.

My question about Jimmy Eat World over the years has remained at “How can one band pack so much emotion and feelings into each song and album after album?” This also leads me to the feeling that each album the band has released feels short, when something as good as a Jimmy Eat World album is released one can not help but want more. Chase This Light is a great addition to the bands catalog, adding more great tracks to rock out to and even more great tracks to sing and pour your emotions into.

Standout Tracks: “Big Casino”, “Let It Happen”, “Here It Goes”, “Dizzy”

Track Listing
1. Big Casino
2. Let It Happen
3. Always Be
4. Carry You
5. Electable (Give It Up)
6. Gotta Be Somebody’s Blues
7. Feeling Lucky
8. Here It Goes
9. Chase This Light
10. Firelight
11. Dizzy