It's always interesting when a band starts investigating and developing the concepts that comprise them, especially such an ingenious and talented band as Jimmy Eat World, widely held accountable for bringing that 'emo' tag to the mainstream. After three enjoyable albeit superfluous LPs, the band's career really took a lash out with the 2004 masterpiece Futures, a set of gorgeous, lovesick polish and tremendous vocal trills, telling a dark tale of teen isolation, lust and prolonged drug spells through the mature mouthpiece of lead singer Jim Adkins.

Stay On My Side Tonight is, at first glance, a deception: the vibrant pink and yellow fonts and cover art may make the EP look a cheerful, relaxed five-track session compiled between respective releases in the backyard, when in fact it's a subtle continuation to the storyline that was adapted in Futures. As a bridge between that and the big question mark that will hopefully arrive soon in the form of these guy's new album, there's two purposes which this brief chapter serves. Futures was an album of sweet, delicate, romantic moments, this is more of a re-introduction of Adkin's slightly glazed, slightly surly style of previous efforts. And the other function? Stay On My Side Tonight is even more of a shadowy, left-outside-alone cut than it's predecessor.

Oh, yes. It appears Jimmy Eat World are fast becoming Arizona's finest squad of glum, trashy teen bums that turn frequently to alcoholism and pills to escape their endless mental prisons and search for some beauty and meaning in their all or nothing worlds. The cover bears a parental advisory sticker for the first time, not just for the hushed 'motherfuuucker' in 'Half Right,' but presumably because the EP tackles subjects of deep, unspeakable bitterness too.

And if clunkety-clunk seven-minute-in-excess canons are what's a must have for a lonely teen's typical side of the world, 'Disintegration' is at the core of this thing, with pattering percussion and notes of brash drunkenness. You can almost imagine bags drooping under Adkin's eyes as he weeps 'What happened to the love / We both knew / We both chased' in the taut chorus's bittersweet melody. 'Hangin' on a cigarette / You'll need me' he prophesies.

'Over' is stained by melancholic tinge even by the time the guitar's scruffy tarnish opens. If anything has dawned in the wake of last year's success, it's their favoritism for split harmonies on either side of their frontman's alter egos, and this time unaided by Liz Phair's sultry vocals. It rears it's sensitive head fairly well to overcome this obstacle amid imperial wistfulness, but you'd beat it with a stick just for a little more of that magical flowing piano.

Then there's the Heatmiser cover 'Half Right,' a number where electric guitars are rendered completely useless and irrelevant, and acoustic two-note dimensions are worked steadily to an eventual standstill. Emerging on top is Adkin's purring paraphrasing, including a single expletive in quiet tones to rhyme with 'He was a sucker for your doubledose.' You can nearly accuse a cover of being inserted out of the band's personal vanity or for extra funding reasons, but Jimmy Eat World manage to oil this joint well and make a mid-1990s song not seem too out of context on this modernised gig of ever-wordly addictions.

Despite the strength of these three the album is dampened by two piles of surplus run-off. 'Closer' is virtual nothingness, a work of blunt intellect and grotesque stretching over 5 minutes, and the 'styrofoam remix' of 'Drugs Or Me' is downright senseless. What was originally a solemn piece from the past about some good-natured hallucination and pill consumption is now pure bubble-gum, the terror the clubs can work on a self-serious rock band. This remix, though shorter than the oiginal version, is one lifeless, looping twitch of streams of indistinct jargon and anticipated dancey pulp. If the foursome are looking for a connection with space rock, it will not prevail.

Nevertheless, Stay On My Side Tonight relishes some vocalizing harmonies and unmistakable 'J.E.W.' techniques the band have trademarked, and while this offering's wide open bounds may not be nearly enough to quench your thirst, it'll certainly provide an easier transition, or a missing link, between 5th and 6th studio outputs. Until then, so they don't break down and cry, Stay on Their Side - for your sake and theirs.

Track Listing [x indicates standout track]
1. Disintegration [x]
2. Over [x]
3. Closer
4. Half Right [x]
5. Drugs or Me (Styrofoam Remix)

Similar Artists: Acceptance, Death Cab for Cutie, Dashboard Confessional
Heavy: No
Swearing: Yes

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Thank you.

Recommended: Yes