Jimmy Eat World

Static Prevails (Capitol)
by Barbara Restaino

Four guys from Mesa, Arizona on their way to the MTV buzz bin in a (sometimes) hard rock band with a cool name playing distorted, clingy, guitar-intense music peppered with additional musicians. The CD started out frenzied and boiling, and I thought I’d really like it ’cause my head was bangin’ and my fingers were tappin’ on the keyboard. After a while though, the vocals (ranging from screeching to breathy to that whiny gruff-but-sensitive rock star thing) started to annoy me. If they were my friends, I’d probably think Jimmy Eat World was the best band in the world; but they’re not, and they’re not.