Static Prevails
Static Prevails is the second studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 23, 1996, through Capitol Records. Following the release of the band's self-titled debut album (1994), they signed to Capitol in mid-1995 for further releases. Carrier member Rick Burch replaced bassist Mitch Porter, who left to become a Mormon missionary. Recorded at Sound City in Los Angeles, California, and at Big Fish, in Encinitas, California, Wes Kidd, Mark Trombino, and Jimmy Eat World acted as producers for the album.
Static Prevails
Static Prevails saw the band move away from skate punk and pop-punk, and into a more aggressive sound consisting of post-hardcore, emo and punk rock. Preceded by a three-month United States tour, it was promoted with a mini tour of the country, a stint with the Smoking Popes and the Figgs, and a US tour with Sense Field in early 1997. A music video was filmed for "Rockstar", and "Call It in the Air" was released as the lead single in August 1996. The album received mixed reviews from music critics, who mostly commented on the vocals and guitarwork. It has since been viewed as a benchmark for the second wave of emo.
Background and development[edit]
Jimmy Eat World released their self-titled debut studio album in 1994, through local label Wooden Blue records.[1] As the members left high school, frontman Jim Adkins was part of a production company with Joel Leibow, co-founder of Wooden Blue. The production company listed itself in Maximumrocknroll's guide Book Your Own Fuckin' Life, which assisted bands, promoters, and venues to book shows across the United States. After being contacted by Christie Front Drive for a show, Leibow asked the band to do a split single with Jimmy Eat World.[2] Various major labels contacted the band and asked for a tape of their music.[3] Loren Isreal, a talent scout from Capitol Records went to a show to check out Sense Field; however, the opening act, Christie Front Drive, caught his attention.[4][5] Isreal asked them if they had new material he could hear, with the band responding by mentioning they had released a split with Jimmy Eat World.[4][5]
Sometime later, Jimmy Eat World played a benefit show; a staff member at Capitol was in the audience, and approached them.[3] In mid-1995, they signed a development deal with the label that included one album, with the possibility for six more.[6][7] As the band did not know any entertainment lawyers, they hired Lind's family attorney to gloss over the contract.[5] Around this time, bassist Mitch Porter became a Mormon missionary at the insistence of his family, and left the band.[3][5] Carrier bassist Rick Burch, who guitarist Tom Linton had been best friends with since the seventh grade, replaced Porter.[6] Capitol set up the band to record demos for their next album with Jon Auer of the Posies in Seattle, Washington. They then visited Capitol's A&R person Craig Aaronson at his house in Los Angeles, California, where they showed him the demos they had done. Aaronson was discussing the band's songwriting process, which he felt made no sense; Adkins explained they used to write songs as a series of "cool part[s]" one after another.[8]
Recording and production[edit]
When Jimmy Eat World was searching for an engineer to record Static Prevails, they came across former Drive Like Jehu member Mark Trombino. The band recorded two songs with him, "Opener" and "77 Satellites", both of which were released through record label An Industry for Outer Space on 7-inch vinyl.[2] At Capitol's insistence, Jimmy Eat World went to a rehearsal room in Los Angeles, having been told to write some new songs and rewrite others, being guided by a producer they had hired.[9] The band did pre-production at Mind's Eye Digital in Mesa, Arizona, with engineer Larry Elyea. Static Prevails was recorded in 1995 at Sound City in Los Angeles, and at Big Fish in Encinitas, California.[10] While Jimmy Eat World wanted Trombino to produce the album, Capitol insisted on the production duo of Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who had previously produced for the likes of Foo Fighters and Beck. The label eventually relented, with Jimmy Eat World working with Trombino, and Wes Kidd of labelmates Triple Fast Action; the band were also given a producer credit.[9][10]
Billy Bowers and Jeff Sheehan served as assistant engineers at Sound City.[10] When Jimmy Eat World recorded Seventeen", it initially featured the chorus line "You're only seventeen"; however, when they realized it sounded too similar to a song by Winger, Linton changed the lyrics, and the band re-recorded it.[11] Trombino, who also acted as engineer, mixed all of the tracks, apart from "Rockstar" and "Seventeen", in Studio C at Capitol Studios. Peter Doell, Billy Smith, and Steve Genewick worked as assistant engineers at Capitol. Rothrock and Schnapf mixed "Rockstar" and "Seventeen" at Sunset Sound, with Cappy Japngie serving as an assistant engineer.[10] Captiol Records insisted on Rothrock and Schnapf mixing the tracks because the label planned to send them to alternative radio stations; subsequently, the vocals on both tracks ended up high in the mix.[9] Stephen Marcussen mastered all of the recordings at Precision Mastering, while Craig Aaronson served as the executive producer.[10]
Release and promotion[edit]
After the band handed in Static Prevails, the staff at Capitol were "bummed [...] Just guys being like, 'Uh ... this is a lot different than what we expected'", according to Linton.[4] Jimmy Eat World toured the West Coast of the US in anticipation of the album between May and July 1996.[28] Capitol released Static Prevails on July 23, 1996.[29] The cover artwork features a sideways photo of chimneys, taken on a rooftop in Denver, Colorado, by Paul Drake.[10][30] The original vinyl version featured different artwork, and included the bonus 7-inch vinyl of "In the Same Room" and "77 Satellites".[31] The band made a music video for "Rockstar", which was included on some copies of the CD version of the album as enhanced content.[10] It was filmed at Koo's Cafe, a DIY venue in Santa Ana, Calfironia, with directors Richard and Stefanie Reines of Drive-Thru Records.[8]
Capitol released "Call It in the Air" as the lead single on August 26, 1996, on a 7-inch vinyl, with "Rockstar" as the B-side.[32][33] Jimmy Eat World promoted Static Prevails with a mini US tour along the West; later, the band embarked on the God Bless America tour with the Smoking Popes and the Figgs.[3][17][32] In February 1997, Jimmy Eat World embarked on a cross-country US tour with Sense Field.[34] Capitol felt the original version of "Seventeen" would work in the film Never Been Kissed (1999), and in return for letting the label use it in the film, the band met Drew Barrymore.[11] Adkins felt the lyrics of the original tied in well with the lead character of the movie.[8] Along with their third studio Clarity (1999), Static Prevails was re-released in 2007; "77 Satellites" and "What Would I Say to You Now" were included as bonus tracks.[35] Static Prevails, along with Clarity and their fifth studio Futures (2004), was re-pressed on vinyl in 2014.[36]