ease the medic

When I say I would have loved Ease the Medic in high school, I mean it in the most endearing way possible.
The longstanding Columbus quartet has weathered a handful of lineup changes since frontman Mike Finch founded the band via online classified ads in 2005, but the sound has remained essentially unchanged.
This heart-on-sleeve breed of post-hardcore is inherently youthful; it scans as adolescent angst even when it’s a delivery system for thirtysomething angst. That thirtysomethings are playing it now nods to the fact that it peaked in popularity around the time I enrolled in high school, and I’m turning 30 in less than a month.
I hesitate to use the word “emo” because nowadays that implies a certain compactness, a type of vacuum-sealed pop-punk designed to fit neatly between the racks of claustrophobic retail spaces and hold the attention of those whose Monster dependency is eclipsed only by their addiction to “Call of Duty.” But when Sunny Day Real Estate was helping to forge this style, it had an epic sweep to it. It was raw and expansive. Ease the Medic is more like that.
They were just the right locals to open for …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead last Saturday at Ace of Cups. Humongous power chords tweaked with slight dissonance hung overhead like storm clouds, and the rhythm section was marked by that same gravel-dented throttle that undergirded Trail of Dead’s Source Tags and Codes. The songs weren’t usually tremendous, but the execution was impressive, a benchwarmer getting by on heart and hustle.
Speaking of hearts (or heartburn), Finch and Adam Thornburgh traded wails and even infused a huge wordless gang-vocal chorus worthy of Arcade Fire. The band was nimble enough to pull off punchy staccato parts but loose enough to let a free-flowing number like “Eleven” breathe. (That one’s a loud, propulsive cover of Columbus musician Sean Gardner’s fragile four-track demo.) When they aimed for a grand finale, it was appropriately explosive.
It did feel a little dated, but that’s no reason to discard music. The funny thing is, what with all this ’90s nostalgia afoot, Ease the Medic’s approach is due to come back in style any day now.
- Columbus Alive

When I say I would have loved Ease the Medic in high school, I mean it in the most endearing way possible.
The longstanding Columbus quartet has weathered a handful of lineup changes since frontman Mike Finch founded the band via online classified ads in 2005, but the sound has remained essentially unchanged.
This heart-on-sleeve breed of post-hardcore is inherently youthful; it scans as adolescent angst even when it’s a delivery system for thirtysomething angst. That thirtysomethings are playing it now nods to the fact that it peaked in popularity around the time I enrolled in high school, and I’m turning 30 in less than a month.
I hesitate to use the word “emo” because nowadays that implies a certain compactness, a type of vacuum-sealed pop-punk designed to fit neatly between the racks of claustrophobic retail spaces and hold the attention of those whose Monster dependency is eclipsed only by their addiction to “Call of Duty.” But when Sunny Day Real Estate was helping to forge this style, it had an epic sweep to it. It was raw and expansive. Ease the Medic is more like that.
They were just the right locals to open for …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead last Saturday at Ace of Cups. Humongous power chords tweaked with slight dissonance hung overhead like storm clouds, and the rhythm section was marked by that same gravel-dented throttle that undergirded Trail of Dead’s Source Tags and Codes. The songs weren’t usually tremendous, but the execution was impressive, a benchwarmer getting by on heart and hustle.
Speaking of hearts (or heartburn), Finch and Adam Thornburgh traded wails and even infused a huge wordless gang-vocal chorus worthy of Arcade Fire. The band was nimble enough to pull off punchy staccato parts but loose enough to let a free-flowing number like “Eleven” breathe. (That one’s a loud, propulsive cover of Columbus musician Sean Gardner’s fragile four-track demo.) When they aimed for a grand finale, it was appropriately explosive.
It did feel a little dated, but that’s no reason to discard music. The funny thing is, what with all this ’90s nostalgia afoot, Ease the Medic’s approach is due to come back in style any day now.
- Columbus Alive

"Angular guitars layered over one another, and the tight rhythm section plowed ahead with a tangible sense of urgency.
This wasn’t bullshit blues-derived commercial rock. It was honest and fierce." - Ghettoblaster Magazine

"The members of ease the medic are veterans of the Columbus scene who came together to explore the sonic territory between Post-Hardcore's visceral power and Math-Rock's cerebral impact. The band's debut EP, Riot on the Gold Coast, is attracting widespread attention and inspiring great press. Dig it: hardcore energy with math rock precision, like a listing on Cursive street by a Sunny Day Real Estate agent." - Cincinnati City Beat

"Ease The Medic have only played around 25 gigs together as a band, yet they have a sound far more mature than their relative youth would suggest. Playing a relatively complex post-hardcore that has nods towards bands like Circa Survive and mewithoutyou, the band twist and turn throughout the course of seven pretty intriguing tracks. And while it would be wrong to proclaim the quartet as the next big thing, there's certainly something about them which differs from your run of the mill 'emo' bands.

'Splitting Hairs As A Science' is a slow, brooding affair with plenty going on, yet its apparent complex make-up stops the five-minute plus track from ever getting boring. And while it's far from catchy, it offers up a side to the band that nicely juxtaposes the band's more immediate songs. Both 'Diagonals' and 'Wearing White In The Blackout' have more melodies - even singalong parts in places - making them very pleasant listens indeed. For such a new band, there's definitely enough here to suggest we'll be hearing more from Ease The Medic in the future." - Punktastic (U.K.)

"Ease The Medic for example simply have different models than others, less well-known and less up-to-date. There's a little bit of Sunny Day Real Estate, somewhat of noisy Indierock and pleasantly bent harmonies and vocals similar to the ones of late Only If You call Me Jonathan. The trick is not to let you pin down to a special genre and that's what ETM do. They're artfully showing all facets of their different idols and they're on a way to become a pretty cool band." - Emo Is Dead (Germany)

Off the Hook - Ease the Medic
Story: Cary Smith
The pleasant uneasiness and surprise that is experienced while being tossed through the loud throwback chords of Ease the Medic does not come from your typical verse-chorus-verse band. Drawing much from post-hardcore bands from the late 90s, Ease the Medic creates tracks that border on math rock at times and include a scream or two for good measure.

“We aren’t really big on hooks,” says bass player Eric Payton. “I really think that the whole song should be good. You shouldn’t always be waiting for the hooks to come around.”

Formed in 2005 by the four like-minded members meeting through a local online music classifieds site, Ease the Medic quickly started touring and recorded a five-song EP after only three months of playing together. Drummer Mike Bryant and guitarist Adam Thorburgh met Bassist Eric Payton and then finally vocalist and guitarist Mike Finch to round out the very easygoing, yet focused, group.
“We’ve all come from bands where we were the guys who tried to get everyone going,” says Finch. “I think it really allows us to be serious about things, but really still enjoy being in a band and playing music together.”

After almost four years together and lots of touring through the region, the members of Ease the Medic all have full-time jobs and families, but still find time to write new songs and tour as much as they can. After a long writing process, the group is ready to record a new full-length record that is tentatively scheduled for an August 1st release. Unlike most bands that are always dreaming of the big break, Ease the Medic are somewhat content where they’re at.

“Being in this band and touring is great,” says Thorburgh. “It’s almost like an affair that my wife allows me to have.”

For more information on Ease the Medic go to
www.myspace.com/easethemedic

- C Magazine

Local music: Ease the Medic & The Garrison
Thursday, December 2, 2010 06:00 AM
By Chris DeVille

Remember the days before mall punk castrated emo, back when the genre careened along on the verge of the sound barrier, raw and unhinged and still steeped in post-hardcore fury? If you miss those days, two Columbus bands have a slab of vinyl for you.

Ease the Medic and The Garrison are bands built from Columbus rock veterans, some of whom have been kicking out music like this for more than a decade. If their output hasn’t changed much since they ventured into the public eye, nor has the passion with which they perform it. They’ll show off their latest creations on a split 7-inch to be released Friday at Kobo.

Ease the Medic offers the record’s catchiest track, swaying mid-tempo rocker “Eleven,” and its most emotionally bare, “Whatever’s Wrong With Me Is Here To Stay.” The latter gets a bit overkill in its wide-eyed, top-of-your-lungs catharsis, but it likely resonates on listeners’ more self-loathing days.

The Garrison’s contributions are closer to straight-up punk — high-speed, no-frills battering rams that fit in between Murder City Devils and Jimmy Eat World on the punk spectrum.


- Columbus Alive

Local music: Ease the Medic & The Garrison
Thursday, December 2, 2010 06:00 AM
By Chris DeVille

Remember the days before mall punk castrated emo, back when the genre careened along on the verge of the sound barrier, raw and unhinged and still steeped in post-hardcore fury? If you miss those days, two Columbus bands have a slab of vinyl for you.

Ease the Medic and The Garrison are bands built from Columbus rock veterans, some of whom have been kicking out music like this for more than a decade. If their output hasn’t changed much since they ventured into the public eye, nor has the passion with which they perform it. They’ll show off their latest creations on a split 7-inch to be released Friday at Kobo.

Ease the Medic offers the record’s catchiest track, swaying mid-tempo rocker “Eleven,” and its most emotionally bare, “Whatever’s Wrong With Me Is Here To Stay.” The latter gets a bit overkill in its wide-eyed, top-of-your-lungs catharsis, but it likely resonates on listeners’ more self-loathing days.

The Garrison’s contributions are closer to straight-up punk — high-speed, no-frills battering rams that fit in between Murder City Devils and Jimmy Eat World on the punk spectrum.


- Columbus Alive

When I was a young and tender 'Maryland Matt' in the late 1990's... I would gobble up any comp that a label would put out. I loved comps mostly due to the fact that I was eager to hear new things. There are a few compilations that were instrumental in guiding me along the musical path that I have walked since then. Among them are Victory Style 2, Punk-O-Rama 2... and most importanly, In Flight Program (Revelation Records).

I picked up In Flight Program because it had a Gorilla Biscuits and Judge song on it... but it introduced me to bands like Sense Field, Farside, Into Another and Texas Is The Reason. These four bands all claim a spot in my heart for how they hit me when I first heard them as they were really my first taste of emotionally driven indie rock.

As sad as it is to me to really think about it... I have really fallen off when it comes to keeping up with modern emo bands. Obviously I don't mean what todays youth is claiming emo to be, but the true representation of current emo. 'The Emo Diaries: Chapter 12' is certainly carrying that torch.

There are many bands on this release that could have easily been cut from the same cloth as bands like Sense Field, Chamberlain or Farside. There are even some that are blazing their own trail in a genre that I honestly considered to be long dead.

I would have given this a higher score, but some of the tracks just drift into the background and don't really jump out at you. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised to find that real emo is alive and well. Bands like Dedicated to Dedications, Collapse Under The Empire and Ease the Medic are really keeping hope alive. Give this comp a spin if you are or ever have been a fan of true emo.
- Stereokiller

When I was a young and tender 'Maryland Matt' in the late 1990's... I would gobble up any comp that a label would put out. I loved comps mostly due to the fact that I was eager to hear new things. There are a few compilations that were instrumental in guiding me along the musical path that I have walked since then. Among them are Victory Style 2, Punk-O-Rama 2... and most importanly, In Flight Program (Revelation Records).

I picked up In Flight Program because it had a Gorilla Biscuits and Judge song on it... but it introduced me to bands like Sense Field, Farside, Into Another and Texas Is The Reason. These four bands all claim a spot in my heart for how they hit me when I first heard them as they were really my first taste of emotionally driven indie rock.

As sad as it is to me to really think about it... I have really fallen off when it comes to keeping up with modern emo bands. Obviously I don't mean what todays youth is claiming emo to be, but the true representation of current emo. 'The Emo Diaries: Chapter 12' is certainly carrying that torch.

There are many bands on this release that could have easily been cut from the same cloth as bands like Sense Field, Chamberlain or Farside. There are even some that are blazing their own trail in a genre that I honestly considered to be long dead.

I would have given this a higher score, but some of the tracks just drift into the background and don't really jump out at you. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised to find that real emo is alive and well. Bands like Dedicated to Dedications, Collapse Under The Empire and Ease the Medic are really keeping hope alive. Give this comp a spin if you are or ever have been a fan of true emo.
- Stereokiller

On the 12th Emo Diaries compilation — a series once made popular for its unreleased tracks of Jimmy Eat World and the Appleseed Cast — up and coming bands from around the world hope to get their music heard. Tracks span from orchestral heavy heart-sobs, to breathy instrumental rock, to six-minute jam sessions, each capturing the heavy desperation related to the emo genre.

The opening track by Dedication To Dedications spotlights impressive vocals (reminiscent of Florence and The Machine) and decent songwriting, standing as a solid opener . The album fluctuates from there, showing promise in tracks like “As We Speak” and Ease The Medic's fiery “Churchill’s Down,” but loses ground somewhere in the middle. Luckily, the brooding voice of Nathaniel Sutton helps close the album on a very positive note, with his track “Far More” possibly being the strongest on the album.

Collectively, the compilation, grimly titled I LoveYou But In The End I Will Destroy You, brings more of the same to emo lovers across the country. But with a few promising acts, there’s glimpses of the potential that made Jimmy Eat World what they are today. It’s worth checking out for those who like to keep tabs on solid newcomers. - Verbicide Magazine

Judging from Ease the Medic's new self-titled album, the band has incorporated a bit more post-rock and math-rock influences into its sound. But really, what's more refreshing is how Mike Finch and crew have stayed true to their early emo roots. In general, Columbus doesn't have the type of music scene(s) that rewards inclusion on one of Deep Elm Records' Emo Diaries compilations, but if any local band deserves the recognition, Ease the Medic does. The new album on We Want Action will be available digitally (Amazon, iTunes, etc.) and on vinyl beginning Tuesday. Winter Makes Sailors and Bigshot open the album-release show.

Joel Oliphint

- The Other Paper

Driven by the 1990s indie-rock and post-hard-core scenes, the tuneful rock of Ease the Medic boasts adequate thrust and — beneath the din — plenty of heart.

“We have a tendency to try and tackle larger social issues,” said frontman Mike Finch, whose first track on the latest album “touches on the effects of homelessness and social isolation, and my personal interaction dealing with people as they try to transition back.”

Still, said the 35-year-old, who has done volunteer outreach: “I think there’s always an underlying hope in most of our songs.”

In addition to promoting their self-titled sophomore release on Friday, the musicians will contribute a percentage of sales to the Community Shelter Board — which helps coordinate anti-homelessness efforts in Columbus.

Q How would you describe your music?

A Loud rock music — equal parts melodic and dissonant, frantic and cathartic. We like to play around with dynamics and time signatures a bit, too.

Q What inspired the band name?

A I lived next to a lake at the time (in 2005), and there was this paramedic who appeared occasionally at night. He would jump out of his ambulance to chain-smoke and stare at the lake, then quickly get back in and take off.

Q After seven years with the group, what would you call an achievement?

A Our song Churchill’s Down was released on the latest Deep Elm Records Emo Diaries compilation last year.

We were fans of the earlier volumes — which helped launch bands like Jimmy Eat World, Appleseed Cast and Further Seems Forever — so we thought it was very cool that they wanted to include us.

— Kevin Joy?

kjoy@dispatch.com?

- Columbus Dispatch

If classified ads seem like a risky way to attract bedmates, imagine the hazards of recruiting bandmates that way. One love connection is tough enough to forge without having to build the equivalent of an entire family.

Against those odds, Ease the Medic clicked. The secret to the Columbus quartet’s perseverance may be their convergence of Type A personalities in a realm typified by flakiness.

“We were all band dads, which is kind of a rare thing,” frontman Mike Finch said.

Since forming in 2005 through classified ads on Columbus music website Cringe.com, Ease the Medic has been a tireless force. Don’t let the gap in their discography fool you; though the self-titled LP the band is releasing Saturday at Kobo is its first full-length since 2006’s “Riot on the Gold Coast,” few bands have been as industrious in the interim.

They put inordinate effort into songwriting. When every member has equal say, working out complex post-hardcore arrangements is painstaking. And when you exert that much effort on songs, you’re going to make damn sure people hear them.

Thus, Ease the Medic will storm any stage, from Austin bars in the thick of South by Southwest to Chinese student events at Ohio State. Once, when a friend arrived too late to see them play in Michigan, they drove two hours to perform for him and his buddies after hours in a Lansing pub with no speakers.

The all-hands-on-deck campaign continues with this latest blast of angular angst, to be released on Finch’s We Want Action label.

“So often bands do all this work and get a record out … and it’s like, ah, we’re done. Really it’s the start,” Finch said. “No one’s heard it yet. No one knows it exists yet. We just want them to hear it. That’s what it comes down to.”

- Columbus Alive

Ease The Medic is a band that seems to be defined less by its influences and more by their execution of combining bits and pieces of things and making something both cohesive and engaging. While you might be able to pull a number of bands in a sound flanked many a time by fits of meticulous melodies and the occasional off-shoot rhythmic tangent, this self-titled album is surely a bit more of a grower than an immediate grab for your attention. In any case, the eight tracks of Ease The Medic repay you for your time with more than a handful of memorable cuts – hitting the mark in spurts during a journey as weaving through sonic output as it is in its execution.

I only say that because in the first time I listened to Ease The Medic, it was a bit difficult to grasp an overall way to think of this record. This lends itself more to the shifting ideas presented only three tracks in, but the mood of this record and its portrayal is easier to pinpoint as the record moves on. While opener “Antarctic Stare” seeps with off-kilter melodies in the form of massive guitars, “For Mother Russia” is a mostly stripped down number in comparison, showing little sonically in common with the former save for the guitar-slathered ending. But on its heels, “Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie Shelter” sounds much more in tune with Russia, sticking to a calculated, yet more much engaged articulation of guitar melodies instead of the barrage of chordage heard earlier. In an attack akin to perhaps a less jam-orientated Minus The Bear (“Indian Style”), the more than welcome application of whirring guitar lines and often spotlighted drumming make for this realm of Ease The Medic to be executed respectably – often finding a way to channel their influences without mimicking them to death.

But in the backend of this eight track collection, the band toys with their approach to the formula. “Engine Brake” is about as uptempo as we’ll hear this band, lingering in post-hardcore territory with an edge of lush guitars feathered with just enough distortion to make this ender stand out from the rest. The dismal middle section of the track is a revisit of sorts, pairing drawn out chords to slower drums for a bit of a breather in the proceedings. Backing up a track though, “Hansel and Greta Van” is the introduction to this grittier by comparison sound, with this number also tinged by many of the same sonic approaches of the closer. This track features arguably the strongest chorus of the bunch though, with strong vocals, interesting guitar licks and a wonderful melodic structure to boot.

The vocal approach of having three people adding a voice to this record makes for a mildly varying experience as well. On one side, it gives us plenty to hear from that department, whether it be the mid-range holds in the chorus of “Hansel and Greta Van” or the slightly droning melodies of “Antarctic Stare”. For the most part, whatever they are doing fits well enough, but very few times do these vocals stand out past the instrumentation behind it. The thing is, when these guys give the vocals a little bit more of a chance to shine (“Hansel and Greta Van”) as opposed to them sounding borderline flat, the entire vibe of the song is accentuated where stronger vocal lines might help a number of these tracks out in both memorability and first-impression attraction.

While immediate cohesiveness and impact might not be the forte of Ease The Medic, a repeated indulging will yield more to the ears than the off-putting sequencing or slightly psyched out sonic contributions of the first few tracks. Certainly not bad on their own, the core sound of this band lies later in the record, kicking into high gear a balance of crisp guitars that move with purpose and are on the cusp of infectiousness. Though there are some flaws to it, it is better to have not quite realized your potential than to have hit a wall and be unable to figure out what to do next – something Ease The Medic can take to heart for the - Absolute Punk

Review: Ease The Medic
Ease The Medic are a four-piece band from Columbus, Ohio who have been around since 2006 and have travelled their home country once or twice, playing with some pretty big acts (are Lynyrd Skynrd, Biffy Clyro and 3 Doors Down big enough for you!?). Although those bands are no indication of Ease The Medic’s musical style, it does tell you that these guys are pretty much willing to take on the world with their layered post-pop-punk anthems.


Their self-titled second full-length Ease The Medic is an excellent campaign for such ambitions – it definitely sounds big. At first, Ease The Medic hits you like a wave that takes a while to dry off, but upon being pelted by this album’s anthemic post-punk wall of sound, it begins to permeate you like a flash-flood down the streets of an unsuspecting city.

Opening with some of the spaciest sounding guitar drones I’ve heard in a while, you get distracted by their beauty before being picked up and slammed back down to the ground in the giant soundstorm that is album-opener “Antarctic Stare”. When the deliberate line “Winter’s ice fills your lungs / don’t choke…” chimes in, Ease The Medic have already found their groove and just take off from there. The only time this song lets up is immediately before a thunderous break-down led by a quite bad-ass riff, that possesses you to rock out for the remainder.

While “Antarctic Stare” sets the precedent of what to expect from this layered band, “Meh” and “Eleven” are more throwbacks to pop-punk and emo that we all submerged ourselves in at some point in our lives. “Meh” starts out hopping with classic pop-punk vox and an especially bouncy drum and bass combo, switching things up mid-way in an almost seamless change of time-signatures (and volume) for a pretty little excursion before launching into the last chorus. The shifts from standard 4/4 to variations of 3/4 timing are rather abundant on this record after enough listens, a very slick trick that Ease The Medic execute with little to no awkwardness, making for interesting variations of what could have been much simpler sounding measures of music. “Eleven” is by-far the shortest (and simplest) track on the album (2:30) but a really memorable one. The catchy main riff is super indie (and 90's) sounding, leading into a simplistic, but relatable song about being dumped with the help of text messaging. Then comes “For Mother Russia”, probably the most painful song of the set (to the heart, not the ears!). Employing less foot-stomping, and more of a “kicking-a-stone-with-your-head-down rhythm”, this song gets most of the bloodletting out of the way, ending with an aggressive, driving jam at the end. You don’t have to listen too closely either for a siren-mimicking guitar riff that indicates the medic may not be in for an easy night.



After such a painful song, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Shelter” is a nice pallet cleanser to start side B. It starts out with what I would call a “groove”, of which its full “grooviness” isn’t felt until the second time around. One of the several interesting bass lines on Ease The Medic is found on “Gimme Shelter” right before going into the chorus. Bass lines like that really show you how much it can add to the feel of a song in addition to just providing low end (See also, the noodling found on “Antarctic Stare” for another great example of this). By the time the chorus hits, this track is a powerful sing-along anthem that just begs for some space (“We all need shelter!”) “Indian Style” is both a technical and moody affair (evoking earliesh Moneen), using lots of stop-start beats and textured guitar parts to create an obscured path leading to an incredibly large and layered breakdown/jam that sounds like it could easily be the soundtrack to an “end of the world” scene in a movie. Using tons of alien-sounding guitars, strings and even horns to create a swelling howl of an ending, “Indian Style” is a very unique track that is - Aunty Noise (Canada)

On the 12th Emo Diaries compilation — a series once made popular for its unreleased tracks of Jimmy Eat World and the Appleseed Cast — up and coming bands from around the world hope to get their music heard. Tracks span from orchestral heavy heart-sobs, to breathy instrumental rock, to six-minute jam sessions, each capturing the heavy desperation related to the emo genre.

The opening track by Dedication To Dedications spotlights impressive vocals (reminiscent of Florence and The Machine) and decent songwriting, standing as a solid opener . The album fluctuates from there, showing promise in tracks like “As We Speak” and Ease The Medic's fiery “Churchill’s Down,” but loses ground somewhere in the middle. Luckily, the brooding voice of Nathaniel Sutton helps close the album on a very positive note, with his track “Far More” possibly being the strongest on the album.

Collectively, the compilation, grimly titled I LoveYou But In The End I Will Destroy You, brings more of the same to emo lovers across the country. But with a few promising acts, there’s glimpses of the potential that made Jimmy Eat World what they are today. It’s worth checking out for those who like to keep tabs on solid newcomers. - Verbicide Magazine

On the 12th Emo Diaries compilation — a series once made popular for its unreleased tracks of Jimmy Eat World and the Appleseed Cast — up and coming bands from around the world hope to get their music heard. Tracks span from orchestral heavy heart-sobs, to breathy instrumental rock, to six-minute jam sessions, each capturing the heavy desperation related to the emo genre.

The opening track by Dedication To Dedications spotlights impressive vocals (reminiscent of Florence and The Machine) and decent songwriting, standing as a solid opener . The album fluctuates from there, showing promise in tracks like “As We Speak” and Ease The Medic's fiery “Churchill’s Down,” but loses ground somewhere in the middle. Luckily, the brooding voice of Nathaniel Sutton helps close the album on a very positive note, with his track “Far More” possibly being the strongest on the album.

Collectively, the compilation, grimly titled I LoveYou But In The End I Will Destroy You, brings more of the same to emo lovers across the country. But with a few promising acts, there’s glimpses of the potential that made Jimmy Eat World what they are today. It’s worth checking out for those who like to keep tabs on solid newcomers. - Verbicide Magazine