Jimmy Eat World

Surviving

Written by: PP on 15/08/2021 14:55:03

Here's another blast from the past. Jimmy Eat World's tenth album "Surviving" is missing from our review archives and it's time to rectify that error. Ironically, the record's stylistic focus is also retrospective of sorts, producing the most straightforward, alternative rock release that the band has done since the turn of the century. Where the last few records were leaning towards the experimental where creativity flourished, the songs on "Surviving" draw heavily from "Bleed American" and "Clarity" era, which should satisfy older fans nostalgically cherishing their emotive alternative rock days.

Take a song like "Criminal Energy". It's a groovy piece with a driving rhythm, drawing parallels to the "Bleed American" record with its heavy riffage and shoutier vocal style than the recent Jimmy Eat World output. Similarly, "One Mil" is a smooth alternative rock track with a big chorus so irresistible it's impossible to avoid singing along. That pattern continues throughout the record with massive hooks and anthemic choruses scattered around to create a memorable impression overall. It's not that "Diamond" is that special from a stylistic or songwriting perspective, but it's just a damn good song that feels signature-style Jimmy Eat World. Sometimes that's exactly what you want from a record.

True, some songs like "555" and "All The Way (Stay)" are more on the loftier, dreamier side like recent albums. Here, the band flirts with indie rock and pop a little too much in my opinion, resulting in grandeur soundscapes that feel inflated for no good reason. The band is at their best on songs like the title track and others mentioned earlier in this review; songs where they concentrate just on writing anthemic alternative rock with emotive undertones. This is where the band takes us closer back to their hit eras of songs like "The Middle" and "Sweetness" than we have been in more than a decade. So while "Surviving" is not necessarily the best Jimmy Eat World album, it delivers catchy alternative rock songs better than so many others nevertheless.

Download: One Mil, Surviving, Diamond, Criminal Energy
For the fans of: Taking Back Sunday, The Get Up Kids, Motion City Soundtrack
Listen: Facebook

Release date 18.10.2019
RCA

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