Jimmy Eat World (1994 album)

Jimmy Eat World
Studio album by Jimmy Eat World
Released	December 1994
Studio	Phoenix Recording Company
Genre	Pop-punk skate punk
Length	37:56
Label	Wooden Blue
Producer	Jimmy Eat World Steve Naugton
Jimmy Eat World chronology
One, Two, Three, Four (1994) Jimmy Eat World (1994) Static Prevails (1996)

Jimmy Eat World is the debut studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released in December 1994 through Wooden Blue Records, limited to 2,000 copies. In 1993, musician Jim Adkins joined a band with his childhood friend and drummer Zach Lind. With guitarist Tom Linton and bassist Mitch Porter in the line-up, the band named themselves Jimmy Eat World. They made their live debut in February 1994, but as their hometown of Mesa, Arizona lacked a music scene, they started their own with their friends. With a tape demo made in early 1994, Adkins and school friend Joel Leibow started a promoters company, Bring Me the Head Of Productions.

Leibow and Jeremy Yocum then formed Wooden Blue Records, releasing Jimmy Eat World's One, Two, Three, Four EP. The band recorded their self-titled debut album over three days, co-producing it with Steve Naugton, at Phoenix Recording Company. The album, whose artwork features Linton's brothers Jim and Ed, is a pop-punk and skate punk release, drawing comparison to Face to Face, J Church, NOFX and Superchunk. Linton handled the majority of the lead vocals, while Adkins sung one song, "Usery". Critics said it was not representative of the rest of their catalogue; Linton and Yocum were also dismissive of the album.

Upon attending Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona, Jim Adkins began playing in bands with other musicians, before starting his own.^[1] Originally named Sonic Pudding, they changed their name to I Ate the Sandbox and then to Schon Theory.^[2] This and other acts' sound was representative of their respective music collections, which were predominantly alternative rock and pop-punk-orientated, the latter of these was gaining traction during this period. Adkins was enamoured with two specific San Diego-based artists, Drive Like Jehu and Rocket from the Crypt.^[3] In 1993, the last year of high school for Adkins,^[4] childhood friend Zach Lind asked him if he wanted to join a band he was drumming for. Lind was already playing with guitarist Tom Linton, who had just graduated from Westwood High School. The pair were looking for a bassist, after their mutual friend and fellow Westwood attendee Rick Burch had turned them, preferring to play with his own group, Carrier. Adkins initially performed bass for the pair, until it dawned on him that his guitar was an appropriate alternative.^[3] He knew Mitch Porter from No Reason Boner, a band they were both in previously, and brought him into their new act.^[5]

The four of them started composing material, which they practiced in the garage of Lind's parents, going by the name Jimmy Eat World. The term originated from when Tom's brothers Jim and Ed were fighting, resulting in the latter going to his own room and drawing a picture of Jim eating the earth, titled Jimmy Eat World.^[3] Their music was keeping in tempo with releases from the likes of other punk bands, such as Green Day, NOFX and Propagandhi.^[6] Alongside his role as a rhythm guitarist, Linton handled the majority of the vocals, while Adkins sung infrequently. After gathering a set's worth of material, they played locally;^[7] making their live debut in February 1994 in the backroom of used clothes store.^[8] While Berkeley had 924 Gilman Street and New City had CBGB, Mesa was a largely sports-orientated locale that did not have one place for punk youths to attend. As a result, it lacked a local scene, forcing Jimmy Eat World and their associates to start one. Subsequently, venues opened and were active between one-to-six months, ranging from a storage space to a rented warehouse. Shows consisted of small crowds, formed of friends and other acts playing on the bill.^[7] They recorded a demo tape at a local church in early 1994, which was used to promote the band around Phoenix, Arizona.^[5]

In an effort to attract touring artists to their area, Adkins and school friend Joel Leibow had a phone number and mailing address mentioned in the guide Book Your Own Fucking Life as a promoters company, Bring Me the Head Of Productions.^[9] Jimmy Eat World looked for show possibilities in close-by areas of Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona, struggling in the former as they were unable to play bars as the members were underage.^[7] As they played various shows, Jimmy Eat World was building up connections, leading to Leibow receiving an invite for them to record some material. He was in contact with studio owner Steve Naughton, who operated at Groove Factory and witnessed the band live. He enjoyed their performance and said that if they wanted to release music, he would do it at no charge. Though the opportunity was good for the band, they were not on any record label.^[10] Their friend Jeremy Yocum told them that he had some funds placed in a savings account that he got after sustaining a burn injury in 1989.^[11] In addition, Leibow thought his parents could lend him some money upon request. He reasoned that they wanted to release the music out into the public in order to locate like-minded individuals.^[10]

The two of them had known each other since the second year of high school; Leibow wanted to release something from Jimmy Eat World, while Yocum wished to do the same for Aquanaut Drinks Coffee.^[12] They formed the label Wooden Blue Records, named after a joke in The State.^[10] Alongside Jimmy Eat World, the two also wanted to issue music by other local bands in the area without wanting a return on investment.^[10] Yocum initially lived in Mesa, but moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, while Leibow remained in Mesa. Despite this, the pair had a P.O. box listed with a Tempe address, because it looked better than having a Mesa one, combined with both of them being disillusioned with the city.^[12] Yocum later admitted that they did not keep contracts nor balance books and lacked a firm business plan. Out of the other acts on the label's roster, such as Aquanaut Drinks Coffee, Carrier and Safehouse, Jimmy Eat World became their most prolific band. In the six months following, Wooden Blue released the seven-inch vinyl EP One, Two, Three, Four, 500 copies of which were pressed up.^[13]

Jimmy Eat World's self-titled debut album was recorded in three days.^[13] The band members and Naugton served as producers, with the latter also handled recording, which was done at Phoenix Recording Company. Larry Elyea mastered the album at Mind's Eye Digital.^[14] Sarah Pont contributed violins to the recordings, while Lind also played accordion in addition to his typical role as the band's drummer.^[14] The album's sound has been described as pop-punk,^[15][16] and skate punk,^[17] in the vein of Face to Face, J Church and NOFX.^[15] Punk Planet's John Zero thought that it was highly similar to the work of Superchunk.^[18] Linton sung lead vocals on every song on the album, save for "Usery", which Adkins sang instead.^[19] Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club mentioned that "Reason 346" had elements of what Jimmy Eat World explored further on their second album, Static Prevails (1996).^[15] The staff at Consequence of Sound said Jimmy Eat World shared the "gnarled, almost punkish aggression" as Static Prevails, while lacking that album's "contemplation and atmosphere."^[19] They also mentioned that "Scientific" started the band's tradition of having an epic with an extended length on the majority of their albums.^[19] Opener "Chachi" has Linton talking about how he wished someone would throw him from a 40-story building.^[19]

Jimmy Eat World's self-titled debut album was released through Wooden Blue Records in December 1994, limited to 2,000 copies.^[5] The artwork is an old picture of Ed and Jim Linton,^[19] with one of them holding the other in a headlock.^[13] Jim Schroeder did the CD layout, while Craig Robeson contributed a photograph of the band.^[14] "Reason 346" was included on the Japanese version of their Singles (2000) compilation release.^[15]

Punk Planet reviewed Jimmy Eat World in 1995, where Zero felt that it grew on him with repeated listens, praising the "twisting melodies, catchy beats".^[18] In 2012, The A.V. Club's Jason Heller noted, "It's long been out of print, and there's a good reason for it. It's not terrible, but it doesn't represent what the band would become."^[20] Ryan agreed with Heller, stating that the band who issued Jimmy Eat World and Damage (2013) are "the same in name only."^[15] Journalist Dan Ozzi, in his book Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore 1994–2007 (2021), wrote that the fast recording time "only intensified the speed of the band's bouncy melodies. Each song sounded like a race among members to see who could finish their part first. Levels were shaky and temps were uneven."^[13] Yocum told Ozzi that he was equally unfazed by the album, preferring to see them live than to hear it.^[13] Linton was dismissive of the album, but admitted that several years removed, "it was OK. It wasn't very varied, almost only fast songs".^[21]

Track listing per booklet.^[14]

Personnel per booklet.^[14]

Citations

Sources