Most Vinyl readers, if they’re not complete and utter monsters, probably have fond adolescent memories of Jimmy Eat World. Regardless of your opinions on the divisive emo and pop-punk movements of the early aughts, the supercharged pop emotion in classics like “The Middle” and “Pain” are usually crowd pleasers, even if their more recent output hasn’t quite stacked up. So it should warm every former scenester’s heart that frontman Jim Adkins has struck out on his own with a weekly single series that will include covers of folks like Beck and Cyndi Lauper as well as originals, like this tune right here.
Adkins’ voice notwithstanding, “I Will Go” has some trappings of his JEW output. It’s mildly morose, and the playful double snare hits echo the more pop-friendly songs of his band’s youth. But this is as far from emo as Jim is ever gonna get. “I Will Go” is as airy as mousse, lightly garnished with Abbey Road-era Beatles-friendly horn arrangements, and happily strummed guitar chords more complex than powerful. It’s always fun to see what influences a musician saves for their solo downtime, and Jim is no exception.
Though originally from Virginia, Kelsey recently graduated from the University of Georgia with a cavalcade of neat degrees. She's written for other sites like Wide Open Country, Half Past, Seeing Trees Music, The Cropper, InfUSion Magazine, and Blurt. Kelsey’s greatest weakness is a large bowl of pho, and though she doesn’t know it yet, her friends will soon host a soup intervention for her. In her spare time she enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, crafting dad-humor puns, collecting vintage key chains, writing long lists that utilize the Oxford comma, and acting like Larry David.