Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Jimmy Eat World's latest release, Clarity, is packed with songs that are at once radio-friendly and high-quality. The songs are crafted with a kind of young and innocent pop-rock sentimentality, although Jimmy Eat World aren't newcomers to the scene, especially the Arizona scene. They've been around since 1994, and Clarity is their third full-length. "Table for Glasses," the first song on the record, is probably the best one. It uses that soft and melodic then loud and emotional formula, but it uses it well - the transitions are beautiful and smooth. "Lucky Denver Mint," the first single off Clarity, is a fairly generic pop song - a few simple chords, a catchy chorus you can't help but sing along to. "A Sunday" has that obnoxious ability to get stuck in your head for days on end. Actually, most of the songs have that ability, which, in my humble opinion, is the hallmark of a great pop album.

- annie holub