Jimmy Eat World's Futures -- dark but ultimately fulfilling

Jimmy Eat World, after lurking around the indie scene, struck major pay-dirt with Bleed American, an album predestined for mainstream success with its hooky anthems and feel-good lyrics in hits like "The Middle" and "Sweetness." How the band would follow up this success was a giant question mark. The answer, an album called Futures, is surprising in many respects. While its vocal stylings are unmistakable and little-changed, the album takes an unexpectedly dark turn even as it maintains a deceptively upbeat tone.

Vocalist Jim Adkins maintains the helm on Futures, providing the greatest part of the stability of the band's transition. The album's opener, "Futures," is its biggest throwback to the hopeful tunes of its predecessor. Here, a simple, pumping instrumental line undergirds Adkins' lyrics of hope and love and other such predictable "emo" fare. The track works pretty well as an opener, but doesn't even hint at the shift that's to come.

"Just Tonight...", one of the album's musical highlights, picks up the ball and turns things in a decidedly darker direction. Though the music is the band's trademark upbeat rock style, Adkins' lyrics may surprise more than a few: "An ugly picture, me and you / But nothing I could change . . . / We'll never feel this way again / I'd give you anything but you want pain." Suddenly, a whole new rule is set for Jimmy Eat World's view. Off are the rose-colored glasses of love and believe-in-yourself pop blasts. The band has dwelt in sadness before, to be certain, but never to the extent of Futures, a starkly honest portrayal of empty relationships, drugs and loss.

The mood of the album transcends its musical methods. The big-rock lead single, "Pain," is another deceptive one, with upbeat tones and a payoff line "it takes my pain away." It may sound innocent, but usually the song's subject is having his pain taken away by some combination of drugs and meaningless physical relationships. As such, it works on several levels -- as a hooky, energetic introduction to the album, and as a track that's almost a self-contained satire on the very poppy, sing-along anthems for which the band is known. The biggest of big rock on the album is "Nothingwrong," with surprisingly heavy guitar work, and the track carries on a surprisingly bleak outlook on life, discussing in no uncertain terms the placid nature of society at large: Done nothing but take what's handed down / Said nothing but what's approved to shout."

When the album turns to its softer moments, it's at its most pained. Where one might have come to expect simple ditties of teen love lost, here one finds a continued dwelling in darkness and loss. In "Drugs or Me," Adkins croons seductively of an escapist relationship indistinguishable from chemical addiction. "Night Drive" is a haunting piece, laden with background falsettoes and a cool, calculated musical buildup. Here, though, Adkins sings of a completely meaningless sexual encounter in a car, used once again as a method of escape.

The bottom-line effect of this shift toward unrepentant darkness is unclear, especially since the band's sound is still so deceptively sugary. The legions of teen fans who flocked to Bleed American may still be content with friendly-sounding guitars and anthems, even if the belie the album's actual thematic material. As far as objective weaknesses on the album go, they're relatively rare. Eleven tracks is a glaring weakness, as it leaves the listener wanting a bit more bang for their buck. A few individual tracks fall flat, too, most noticeably the closer, "23." Here, Adkins seems to attempt to bouy the album's dark vibes with a lovey track that comes off as more of a throwaway than anything else. Back toward the album's beginning, the two mid-tempo tracks "Work" and "Kill" are mostly in line with the rest of the album, but come and go without much cause for special notice. These two aren't weak so much as take-them-or-leave-them.

Taken on balance, Futures is actually a significant improvement over Bleed American. After the initial shock of the album's stark themes, the listener will come to realize that it's actually a much more complete and honest work than its predecessor, with musical fulfillment still left in place. While it may set some transient fans of the band ill-at-ease, on an artistic level it's an important bit of growth for the band. What this all means is that most music lovers may find a pleasant artistic surprise somewhere between Jimmy Eat World's bouncy guitars and forlorn lyrics.