Labels are often no more than bothersome words to describe the way something looks, tastes or sounds. Just like "nŸ metal" and "techno" are fancy words for heavy metal and disco, emo is the new label for rock music. Jimmy Eat World has been branded as such, but the band strongly disagrees with the attribution.

Photo courtesy of DreamWorks Jimmy Eat World from left to right is Rick Burch (bass), Jim Adkins (guitar, vocals), Zach Lind (drums) and Tom Linton (guitar, vocals). The band will rock a sold-out crowd at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., tonight at 8. For more information, call 798-3333.

"People are trying to corral us into this new thing called emo," said Rick Burch, the group's bassist. "I don't know what it is, but I think it was something made up by a reporter or a marketing person, trying to sell new music, because people don't want just a rock band. So if you put a label like nŸ metal or emo, people are like, 'oh what's this new thing?'"

The Mesa-based band is comprised of four guys who are doing their best to play rock 'n' roll music.

"We consider ourselves to be a rock band," Burch said. "It has been done before, but we are adding our bit to it."

The band's latest release, Bleed American, has picked up in mainstream popularity and has spawned the single and video for "The Middle." The group's newfound popularity is due to its DIY (Do-It-Yourself) attitude and non-stop touring schedule.

"We have been touring and touring and touring," Burch said. "We got to go to Dublin, Ireland, for the first time, which was cool. We are so busy right now it sucks. We didn't have time to cruise around and check out the area. We were only there for 24 hours."

Not only has the band been able to travel internationally, but it has played with popular acts as well. The band just finished an arena tour with Weezer and Tenacious D at the end of last year.

"The Weezer thing was cool because it was something totally new," Burch said. "But I like the smaller venues because it feels like there is actually a crowd there. And oddly enough, when you play in huge arenas, there is a barrier between you and the audience. You really don't get any feedback from the audience. In a small club, you can actually look people in the eye - there is nothing there to cut off the energy."

Along with the group's increasing popularity has come an explosion of new fans. While many teens are soaking up the not-so-hard rock sounds of Nickelback and Creed, a new generation is discovering Jimmy Eat World.

"Seeing more people at our shows is pretty cool," Burch said. "The crowds have been about the same age as before; maybe it's starting to get a little younger, but there are more people."

But these new fans may never have heard of the band, had it not been dropped from its previous label. In 1996, the group released its major-label debut Static Prevails on industry giant Capitol Records. After promising to promote the band, the label dropped the ball, and Static sat motionless on record-store shelves. After a few years of having no backup from the label, the group cut its ties with the company.

In 2001, the group took matters into their own hands, recorded 16 tracks and began shopping the CD around to labels. DreamWorks picked it up and now the group is slowly getting accustomed to big-budget videos and stage shows.

"Just seeing all of the production and the lighting crew for the video ('The Middle') was overwhelming," Burch said. "Someone bought this house up in Paradise Valley, and they were just going to tear it down and use the property to build a mansion. So they rented it to us and told us we could do anything we wanted to the place."

The band is on top of a wave of touring and success that has not let up since its new album was released in September. Burch said the group just wants to keep rocking and touring, with a few days off, of course.

"Right now, our calendar goes until the end of August," Burch said. "So maybe sometime next Christmas we will have some time to ourselves."