Surviving is apt. Formed in 1993, and featuring the same core members since ’95, Jimmy Eat World has enjoyed a course marked by steady output, frequent touring and quiet durability. As luck would have it, they’ve hung on long enough to find themselves releasing their 10th studio album just as emo nostalgia reaches its zenith. Surviving is both occasion for a survey of the beloved Arizona band’s two-decade-plus career and a further push into arena rock; a driving, if not always transportative, selection that should tour favorably.
Their latest reunites them with Justin Meldal-Johnsen, the producer for M83 and decades-long live bassist for Beck who worked on their triumphant last album, 2016’s Integrity Blues. On Surviving, the producer guides the band’s instincts towards a heavier sound, letting noise from their guitars and Zach Lind’s drums decay. Meldal-Johnsen addresses lacunae in frontman Jim Adkins’ operative knowledge of synth sounds, as on the U2-evocative “555,” an album outlier which features some Fitz and the Tantrums-like hand-clapping. James King, co-founding member of Fitz, shows up for a saxophone solo on “All The Way (Stay),” just like he did on the Meldal-Johnsen-produced M83 sparkler “Midnight City.” Longtime collaborator and former touring member Rachel Haden, of that dog., contributes backing vocals. The track, which considers staying away from the party rather than at it (“Who really says they hope they’ll meet ‘the one’ for the first time at a bar drinking early?”) is one of the more personal allusions to recovery from addiction that Adkins, sober for six years, ventures here.
Lyrically, Surviving is as sincere as their past efforts but less specific. “You’re not alone in pain/Never alone in pain,” Adkins sings on the album’s title track. The band’s shortest LP to date, Surviving moves at a quick clip, losing some of the polish from their last outing with Meldal-Johnsen. They’re conscious when they sound too slick for their own good: The opening acoustic guitar riff on “One Mil” was recorded on Adkins’ iPhone mic in his garage. AFI frontman Davey Havok, who appears on the album finale “Congratulations,” also appears via iPhone.
“There’s no clarity in front of me,” Adkins sings on that song, which serves as a sort of curtain call. At six minutes, it somehow still feels a little short. It’s hard to imagine this iteration of J.E.W. recording another “Goodbye Sky Harbor,” that loitering Clarity closer that would take up nearly half of their latest album’s length. By Surviving’s terminus, listeners might find themselves wanting more risks. But the album on the whole is a solid, self-aware addition to Jimmy Eat World’s catalog, and if the band’s modest strivers’ outlook has proved anything, it’s that there will be another. A band whose biggest song is against writing oneself off always has work to do.
Buy: Rough Trade
