Jimmy Eat World – Invented
Earlier in the year I was fortunate enough to see Jimmy Eat World live, twice over three nights. The two shows were in totally different settings, one in front of 70,000 people at a music festival, the other in a far smaller venue, not quite what I’d describe as intimate, but cosy nonetheless. I can unhesitantly say that both shows were incredible; the sound mix was spot on, the set list near-perfect, and the atmosphere, although totally different for each show, superb.
So needless to say, when I found out the release date of Jimmy Eat World’s latest album, Invented, I was rather excited. It has been three years since their last record, and the anticipation was built-up even more by having known for so long that this album was in the works. I figured that when their new album came out, I’d be as rapt with it as I was with Chase This Light, there 2007 offering, or possibly even Futures, their 2004 album, which remains one of my all time favourites, of any band.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t. When I had finished listening to Invented for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It wasn’t that Invented isn’t a good album, because it is, it was just that at no point during the album’s 12 tracks did I feel the way that I’d felt about their last two albums.
Take, for instance, the last two tracks on Invented. They’re both over 6 and half minutes long, they both start quietly and build up, and in their own right, they’re both good songs. But mention these characteristics to a Jimmy Eat World fan, and chances are they’ll conjure up memories of the 6 or 7 minute epics that have closed out previous albums; 23, or Night Drive, for example. For anyone who doesn’t know these latter two songs, they are incredible. The song begins with a simple guitar riff, a violin plays softly in the background, and the song continues to build up until about 5 minutes in, when it reaches this perfect emotional climax. On Invented the song that comes closest to doing this is the title track, but it reaches nowhere near the same level of intensity that 23 does. I think that this particular shortcoming is one that could be applied to the album in general; as the band never quite reach the peak of each sub-genre that the dabble with, as they have with previous albums.
I’m aware that thus far, I have essentially just compared Invented to Jimmy Eat World’s two previous albums, pretty much ignoring their first two albums. There is a reason for this. In my opinion, every band must be given the opportunity to grow and develop musically, and this process is bound to change the general sound of the band’s music from one album to the next. I once read an interview with the lead singer of a relatively prominent band who, aware that their sound was continually changing as they released record after record, said that their aim as a group was to gain more fans than they lost. I like this idea; that a band’s aim is not to gain new fans as well as keep all of their old ones, but to make a net increase. This is why I think it is redundant comparing a well established band’s new work with their much earlier work. Jimmy Eat World is unlikely to produce another album with the youthful exuberance of Clarity or Bleed American, but they shouldn’t be expected to.
But that philosophical side note is a tangent for another post. At the end of the day, Invented undoubtedly suffers from my ridiculously high expectations of Jimmy Eat World as a band, but rated independently and objectively (if this is ever possible), it is still a good album. Therein lies the potential difficulty of reviewing a band that I consider myself a diehard fan of; I either hear the album through rose-tinted earphones, or I constantly compare it to their earlier work, which I personally consider to be close to unbeatable. I feel I could go around in circles for hours on this particular train of thought, so I’ll stop. I’m sorry Jimmy, I still love you.
Final verdict: 7/10. Like I said, despite my ramblings, this is actually quite a good album.
For fans of: This is a tricky one, but ironically, I would actually recommend it for fans of Jimmy Eat World’s previous work. Just don’t expect to be blown away, and chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Other than that, anyone who considers generic pop-rock to be their guilty pleasure is likely to enjoy this record.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Let It Sway
What on earth would inspire someone to name their band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin I will never know. Based on the band’s name alone, you could be forgiven for expecting to hear something that would make you want to don your best ushanka and crack open a bottle of vodka. Just on a quick side note, don’t be too impressed by the fact that I know what a ushanka is, I literally typed “Russian Hat” into Wikipedia and that’s where it took me. But breathe a sigh of relief, because aside from their name, SSLYBY have absolutely nothing to do with tired Russian clichés.
What I was actually expecting to hear was a bunch of kids (well not quite, but almost), playing their instruments well but not outstandingly, with the end result being a record that was good, but not great. This, in my opinion, would be a fair assessment of ‘Broom’, the title of their debut album. There are some songs on that album that I love, such as Anne Elephant, but others strike me as rather average. The band have released a second album since then, titled ‘Perishing’, but much to my ignorance, I didn’t actually know this.
Which meant that I was even more impressed when I heard their new album, ‘Let it Sway’, which sounds every bit as crisp, polished and professional of a band years their senior. I was impressed about one minute into the first song, and this first impression never really changed significantly. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin seem to have really captured the sound that made their earlier work great in patches, and focussed it in to make a consistently great album.
The great thing about thing about ‘Let It Sway’ is that, although it is more focussed, it retains a light-hearted feel right the way through. The rhythms, riffs, and vocals are all very catchy, and although I hate to use the word infectious, it’s somewhat accurate. Case in point, i’m in the library right now bobbing my head to ‘In Pairs’. I probably look like rather ridiculous, you’d probably judge me for it if you saw me. But I’m well aware of this, and I’m still doing it.
If you’re in need of a comparable band, think Band of Horses minus the melancholy. At times I felt like I could have been listening to a softer version of The Checks (in particular, the vocals on ‘Banned’ gave me this impression), or a scaled-down version of Cut Off Your Hands. All in all, I really enjoyed the album, and I can definitely recommend it.
Rating – 8. For the record, I’m a big fan of ‘Back in the Saddle’, ‘In Pairs’, and ‘Critical Drain’.
For fans of – Band of Horses, Voxtrot, Cut Off Your Hands, The Checks
Born Ruffians – Say It
A couple of years ago, when I first heard Born Ruffians debut album, I was impressed. Titled ‘Red, Yellow & Blue’, it is full of Indie/Pop/Rock nuggets of awesomeness, and is one of the most high-energy albums I own (in terms of energy level, think Arctic Monkeys or The Hives). Most of the tracks are fast paced, but there are a few slower gems on there too, which only add to the overall feel of the record.
So when I got their new album, ‘Say It’, a few weeks ago, I expected it to be just as awesome. It’s not. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t terrible, but it never quite reaches the same heights of its predecessor. I wouldn’t quite call it boring, but each track seems to just meander along after the one before it. The youthful exuberance of the band’s earlier songs are missing, the tempo doesn’t change much, and vocalist Luke Lalonde never quite hits the peak of the crescendo he seems to be on the verge of in many of the songs. Listen to Hummingbird, off their last album, and you’ll see what I’m trying to get at. It builds up nicely until about 2:44, when the music cuts, the whole band joins in the vocals, and the song hits that explosive peak. There’s no such explosiveness on ‘Say It’.
I don’t quite mean to suggest that I didn’t enjoy this album, because I did, just not as much as ‘Red, Yellow, and Blue’. The Ballad of Moose Bruce and What to Say, for instance, are both very good songs, but something seems missing. Whether it be a lack of effort, or merely a sophomore slump, ‘Say It’ just didn’t reach my expectations. That said, Born Ruffians are still a very young band, and I have no doubt that they have the makings a superb record somewhere, but this isn’t it.
Rating – 5.5/10
For fans of – this is a tricky one. Old fans may hate it, they may love it, or (like me) they may be disappointed but still enjoy it a little. New fans may hate it, and miss out on the brilliance of their first album, or may be able to enjoy this album for what it is (for lack of a better cliché), without such high expectations. You’re just going to have to listen for yourself.
My Favourite Accident 