Jimmy Eat World
Futures (Interscope)
Kevin Marksson, singer with lush indie rockers Endearments, told us about his love for a Jimmy Eat World gem...
Kevin Marksson: I was in college when Jimmy Eat World's Futures came out and remember feeling like it was a sea change for my relationship with their music — I already loved Clarity and Bleed American, but Futures was like a crucible for everything that made the band great. The choruses got poppier; the guitars got heavier, darker; the bridges and breakdowns more emotional. While heavy hitters like "Futures", "Just Tonight", and "Pain" showed off how stadium ready the band had become, it was really the melancholy and melodic cuts like "Work", "23", and "Kill" that started to impact my own songwriting and kept me coming back over and over.
Jimmy Eat World always felt like a "band's band" and the name drop on "Kill" (my favorite song on Futures) sent me scrambling to listen to whatever Heatmiser records I could get my hands on (and Elliott Smith by extension). Any time the band opened the door for a peek at their influences — like they did with Madness and The Promise Ring on "A Praise Chorus" — I eagerly rushed in. I'd like to think that the lines they drew from the 80s pop music they adored to the 90s emo peers they celebrated is a big reason I grew to love doing the same in the music I write for Endearments.
Endearments' "Real Deal" single is out now. The An Always Open Door album is out March 6.
Photo by Rita Iovine
