Jimmy Eat World

Though nobody ever seemed quite sure what "emo" sounded like, Jimmy Eat World's late-2001 hit "The Middle" was as definitive as it got: A tight, tuneful punk-pop song whose sympathetic message-opening with the line "Hey, don't write yourself off yet"-touched a nerve with alienated kids (and a few grownups). The band had actually been together eight years and released four albums before that hit, forming in Mesa, Arizona in 1993. Founding members Jim Adkins (guitar), Zach Lind (drums), Tom Linton (guitar) and Mitch Porter (bass) were all teenagers at the time. Initially styled as a punk band, the band released a string of singles and a self-titled album on the local Wooden Blue label and gathered enough buzz to get signed to Capitol when Adkins and Linton were still 19. The band had its one personnel change just after signing, with Rick Burch replacing Porter. The Capitol debut Static Prevails showed off their newer and more sensitive sound, with Adkins taking over from Linton as the main lead singer. Yet the album largely confused their old fans without attracting many new ones. The followup Clarity did better, with the single "Lucky Denver Mint" getting exposure in the Drew Barrymore movie Never Been Kissed. Yet Clarity was ultimately one of those cult-classic albums that was a commercial disappointment at the time, enough to get them dropped by Capitol. They made their next album on the cheap, signing to DreamWorks after Bleed American was completed. They chose the title track, one of their harder rockers, as the first single, but the follow-up "The Middle" was their breakthrough. The song got added resonance from its release in the wake of 9/11. In response to that tragedy the band also changed the album title to Jimmy Eat World, and renamed the title song as "Salt Sweat Sugar." The album went platinum and became the band's biggest hit. Further albums teamed the band with notable producers, including Gil Norton on 2004's Futures and Butch Vig on 2007's Chase This Light. They also did a pair of retrospective tours, celebrating 2009's ten-year anniversary of Clarity-- which by now had earned cult-classic status-and 2014's anniversary of Futures. Another flashback came in 2016, when "The Middle" was dusted off for an Apple Music commercial (lip-synched by Taylor Swift, no less). That year also brought the band's ninth album, Integrity Blues, Praised for its heavier sound (and sporting another new producer, Justin Meldal-Johnsen of Nine Inch Nails fame), the album proved it still wasn't time to write them off.