Mesa, AZ · emo · alt-rock

Jimmy Eat World

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The emo band that became a permanent radio fixture — enormous choruses delivered with total earnestness, decade after decade without a dip.

Jimmy Eat World formed in Mesa, Arizona, in 1993, when childhood friends Jim Adkins and Zach Lind joined guitarist Tom Linton and bassist Mitchel Porter to play punk rock. The band's name came from a crayon drawing made by Linton's younger brother after a fight between two siblings, one of whom drew the other shoving the Earth into his mouth.

Rick Burch replaced Porter on bass around the time the band signed to Capitol Records in 1995, giving the band the line-up of Adkins, Linton, Burch and Lind that has remained stable for most of its history. Their major-label debut, Static Prevails, followed with producer Mark Trombino.

Clarity established their reputation among emo listeners, and the follow-up Bleed American broke them commercially on the strength of singles including 'The Middle' and 'Sweetness'; both albums went on to be certified platinum and gold respectively by the RIAA. The sound combines emo's emotional directness with power-pop structure and large, unambiguous choruses, and Adkins and Linton share vocals across the catalogue.

Futures (2004) produced the number-one single 'Pain', and Chase This Light (2007) became their highest-charting record, reaching number five on the Billboard 200. The band released their tenth studio album, Surviving, in 2019, having kept up a steady pace of recording and touring for three decades.

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emoalt-rock