Chase This

Back in 2001, Jimmy Eat World released their biggest single of their career with "The Middle"; the underground Indie-rockers had never had a single crack the billboard top 200, and were all of a sudden getting heavy rotation on MTV. "The Middle" is Jimmy Eat World's most popular release to date, and their mainstream popularity has been down ever since its release. Make that is how they like it.

"The Middle" appeared on the album Bleed American. The follow up to this album, the 2004 release of Futures, was an absolute mess. While I myself have never considered J.E.W. (an awful acronym, I know) an emo band, it is hard to call them that, with titles of songs on including; "Work", "Kill", "Pain", and "Drugs or Me". When I heard about the release of Chase This Light, I was hoping that the band would move on from Futures. The first track off of Chase This Light gave me hope. "Big Casino" starts off with a fast guitar rift, and then starts to rock. It's a fun song, with references to the music industry, taking chances, and hopes of making it big, "i hope they draw my name from the lottery." "Big Casino" is not a J.E.W. original, but a leftover side project of lead singer Jim Adkins, titled Go Big Casino. While the first track gives promise, the rest of the album falls short.

After "Big Casino", the album returns to where Futures left off with "Let it Happen". The track is repetitive, drawn out, and downright boring. The third track, "Always Be", has an interesting start, with drum beats and snapping fingers, but doesn't do much beyond that. Throughout the album, there seems to be a theme of annoying, repeating background vocals. "Carry You" has a harmony similar to nails on a chalkboard, "Electable (Give It Up)" simply repeats "Uh-oh-Uh-oh" ad nausea, and "Here it Goes" does the same with an annoying "Hey, Hey, Hey!"

Despite all of this, there are a few tracks on the album worth mentioning. "Gotta Be Somebody's Blues" is a sullen, down trodden track, but is also the most interesting one on the album. The track is similar to Danish rock group The Raveonettes. "Dizzy" and "Firefight" are both a return to the bands earlier days. Both of these tracks seem like could of appeared on the bands album Clarity.

While Chase This Light is not as terrible as Futures, it is not a return to its earlier days as Clarity or Bleed American. And maybe Jimmy Eat World will never return to those days of popularity.

Key Tracks:

• Big Casino
• Gotta Be Somebody's Blues
• Dizzy