November 8, 2004

Pop-punk band rocks fans' World

By Linda Laban

Jimmy Eat World fans got a special treat at Avalon Saturday night. At least those who got into the sold-out show.

Toward the end of the main set, singer and guitarist Jim Adkins announced the band would play a song they had "never played for anybody." He reiterated the fact that during the Arizona quartet's decade-long existence, they had never played "Seventeen" in front of anyone.

Why play it now? Why not?

The song was written in 1995, Adkins said, and it aired on the band's 1996 debut, "Static Prevails." Vocals were handled by the slightly gruffer (but for none the worse ) voice of fellow guitarist Tom Linton, whose harmony and guitar-lick trade-offs and unions with Adkins form the Jimmy Eat World verve.

"Seventeen" was a little fiercer than the supermelodic power pop/pop punk the band is now known for; its bitter undertow and deep surfy guitar riffs added grist to Jimmy Eat World's many sweet, shiny pop tones.

It also pointed to Jimmy Eat World's origins: mid-'90s post-alternative. Kicking off with the title track of the 2001-released "Bleed American," and eventually performing that album's hit, the cute, fluffy pop punker "The Middle," Jimmy Eat World wowed fans ranging from their preteens to their 30s.

Apart from a couple of detours down memory lane, Jimmy Eat World mostly stuck with songs from the latter part of its career, particularly the just-released album, "Futures." The encore, however, encompassed the band's worst and best moments, as the so-so punky "Pain" paled in comparison to the punchy, warmer "Sweetness," something Jimmy Eat World is full of.