Growing taste for Jimmy Eat.

Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard

For the Arizona pop-punk quartet Jimmy Eat World, the journey from the WOW Hall to MTV's ``Total Request Live'' has been, in the words of guitarist Tom Linton, "pretty crazy."

But propelled by the success of 2002's catchy little hit single "The Middle," that's the road these four childhood friends from Mesa found themselves on. And now, with a new album out and a tour just beginning, Jimmy Eat World will journey back to Eugene for a Tuesday night show at the McDonald Theatre.

"We'll be playing probably five songs from the new record; then we'll be playing a lot of older stuff from our old records," Linton said in an interview from his home in Arizona. "So it will be a good mix.'

It's been awhile since Jimmy Eat World visited Eugene, Linton said, and he's looking forward to the trip. Between 1996 and 2000, Linton said the band played several gigs at the WOW Hall.

``But it was always really hard,' he said. `In '96, we played there a couple times, when ska was big, and it'd be all these ska bands and us. And no one really liked us.'

There aren't any ska bands on the bill this time - just the rock bands Recover and A Thorn for Every Heart - and it's likely there'll be someone in the crowd who is a fan of the band. After all, "Bleed American," the album that spawned "The Middle," sold 1.3 million copies.

"Bleed American" was released in August 2001 and renamed "Jimmy Eat World" after the events of Sept. 11. In the months that followed, "The Middle," with its infectious pop hooks and optimistic chorus of "Everything, everything'll be just fine / Everything, everything'll be alright" seemingly struck a chord with listeners. With the new album "Futures," released Oct. 19, Linton said the band didn't make a conscious decision to record the anti-`Middle." But the new disc is darker and more guitar-driven than its predecessor. The early word has been pretty positive, he said.

`We've had the chance to go and talk to the fans after the shows we've been playing, I think everyone seems to be happy with it, so that makes us happy," he said.

While the reviewer for the All Music Guide Web site called "Futures" the "Boston or REO Speedwagon album for the emo set' - a characterization Linton calls hilarious - the album's influences are a bit more modern.

"We're big fans of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. ... We were listening to them and Spiritualize and bands like the Cure. I think you can pick up the Cure on some of the songs," Linton said. "Jim (Adkins, lead vocalist) was listening to all sorts of hard core music. (Like) the Blood Brothers. Just really, like, heavy guitars and screaming vocals type stuff.'

The band also isn't shying away from politics. The title track of "Futures" opens with the line, "I always believed in futures / I hope for better / In November." And the band has contributed a song to the MoveOn.org compilation "Future Soundtrack for America."

Are Linton and his bandmates - vocalist and songwriter Adkins, bass player Rick Burch and drummer Zach Lind - worried that some fans will be turned off by the politics? Not really, Linton said.

`If someone's going to, just over a song that has a political reference, decide to not like our band, well, we really don't care,' he said. `The song's pretty much about people going out and how just one person can change the world. Everyone can make a change.'

Jimmy Eat World knows something about change. The band formed in 1994 and started out as a heavy punk outfit, inspired by the music of punk acts NOFX and Propagandhi.

"When we first started, we just got together after school and went to Zach's house to play music in his garage," Linton said. By '96, the band was itching to try something different. Inspired by the music of a Denver-based band called Christie Front Drive, Jimmy Eat World played with its sound and in the process got a little less hard core.

It apparently worked. From those humble beginnings, they never expected to be playing in front of millions of people on MTV's ``TRL'' or ``Saturday Night Live.''

``It's been pretty crazy,'' Linton said, adding that the band never expected to hit it so big. "We didn't go out and look for a record label. We didn't send demos to music executives. We were just setting up shows and playing in Arizona and going over to California every once in a while. The record label (Capitol) came to us."

If the "Future" experience is anything like that of "Bleed American," Jimmy Eat World will be on the road for a long time. Plans include TV gigs and touring, touring, touring. "We might do Jay Leno. We're going to do Letterman. Hope to get to do `Saturday Night Live' again and hope to go over to Europe and do some of the festivals over there. I think touring is what we're going to be up to for the next couple years.'

CONCERT PREVIEW

Jimmy Eat World

With: Recover and A Thorn for Every Heart

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: McDonald Theatre

Tickets: $16 advance, $18 day of show, through TicketsWest Safeway outlets

CAPTION(S):

Jimmy Eat World is (from left) singer Jim Adkins, guitarist Tom Linton, drummer Zach Lind and bassist Rick Burch.