I've been addicted to Jimmy Eat World's third long-player from the first moment I popped it into my cd player.

"Clarity" in its 16 songs of brilliance, has taken a serious hold on me. It's an amazing affair, albeit slightly mellower than the band's previous releases, and I can't get enough of it. Although I was surprised to find that certain journalists were criticizing the record, damning it for being "too nice". So I had to ask Rick Burch, bassist for the Arizona band, what he thought of the comments. "I agree with them, it is a nice record. But we weren't trying to make this vicious rock record either. Maybe they were expecting something and we didn't give them what they wanted."

For "Clarity", the band (also with Jim Adkins, Tom Linton, and Zach Lind) hooked up once again with premier producer Mark Trombino (RFTC, No Knife). "When we worked with him, he was almost like the fifth member," Rick explains. "Because we did "Static Prevails" with him, we had a strong foundation. We work together really well.

"We were looking at other people, but decided to go back with Mark. And I'm super glad we did because there were no awkward early stages, getting to know someone, how they work, what they're about." And although the band hasn't started to work on a new album, they aren't ready to cancel out Trombino to produce it just yet. "Static came out super good and "Clarity" I think came out even better. So what's another one with him going to be like?"

But there is a good reason why Jimmy Eat World hasn't written any new songs. When I spoke to Rick by phone, they were in between five-week tours. "Five weeks is a pretty long time when you're playing every night, but we have a couple of nights off this time. It's going to be nice." And when they head out, they'll be touring with the fantastic San Diego band No Knife. "No Knife is awesome. I'm totally looking forward to that tour. It's always a blast touring with friends."

And as in the past, touring will be a main priority for Jimmy Eat World, who plan to be on the road until the end of the year - at least. "We're talking about Europe And EMI just released "Clarity" in Japan, so that gives us a reason to go over there.I just want to go to Japan, I don't care what happens at the shows."

Simply, a Jimmy Eat World show is one of the best you'll see. In fact, word has it that they were one of the few great ones at South By Southwest this year. "We were in the middle of a tour, so we flew in from Buffalo. We had a few hours to hang out before we played the show at night, so Jim and I saw Guided By Voices in the park, they were awesome. They got so wasted on stage, I couldn't believe it. The last few songs, the bass player could barely even play, it was so funny."

So Rick, have you ever played in that condition? "I try not to be totally wasted, but I think it's happened before." After I prod him to try it, discussing the humor factor of it all, he laughs, "I'm going to [try it], but if I get fired, it's your fault."

For more information contact Jimmy Eat world at: jewpod@aol.com

Jimmy Eat World's website

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