Jimmy Eat World - Static Prevails

First wave of commercial emo, before the eyeliner

They were the emo cat among the nu-metal pigeons when they broke on to the UK rock scene in 2001, but Jimmy Eat World made an impact. Perfect adrenaline-rush single Salt Sweat Sugar exploded on to the airwaves and TV channels, The Middle and Sweetness followed swiftly behind, while 2001 album Bleed American made the charts.  The band’s 1996 release Static Prevails sees this blueprint in a rawer form, a real post-grunge tablet of aggression and balladry started by the amped-up Thinking, That’s All and closing with the gentle string-augmented Anderson Mesa. The token bonus tracks are already out there for the taking, but if you haven’t enjoyed this trip back in time you definitely should, if only to hear what the first wave of commercially-labelled emo sounded like after originators such as Rites Of Spring and before the modern eyelinered wave.

EMI | 3981682

Reviewed by Eleanor Goodman
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