Poor Jebediah.

Poor, poor Jebediah.

At first glance, I'm sure these Aussie boys thought it would be a good idea to do a split CD with Jimmy Eat World. I mean, is there a better way to get inside of thousands of emo kids' bedrooms than tag-teaming with the reigning kings of emo-pop? The only problem, though, is I don't think Jebediah knew that JEW would be contributing their three best songs ever. To make matters worse, Jimmy apparently won the coin toss and got to go first on the CD, so who knows how many kids even got past the third track. Regardless, let's take a look at the music contained within this shiny plastic disc.

"The Most Beautiful Things" is a love song to end all love songs, with quietly plucked guitar strings matching quivering vocals. Then, with a roaring crescendo, the drums and cymbals kick in, sending the song down the emo version of a power ballad. This song is one of the most beautiful things I've ever had the pleasure to hear.
Next up is "No Sensitivity." This is the best song JEW has ever written, hands down. With it's fist pumping chorus of "I'm taking my kisses back, wooooah, I want my kisses back from you" and it's crunchy guitar and drum attack, this song will be stuck in your head for the rest of your life. The breakdowns and acoustic guitar are in exact places you'd put them in, the lyrics are exactly what you'd want to say at the end of a relationship, and the music is the perfect kind to get your head bobbing along and your ass shaking. This is the best Jimmy Eat World song ever. Ever.
The band closes out their portion of the disc with an early version of "Cautioners," now located on their new CD "Bleed American". While the "BA" version is a bit more fleshed out and refined, this version has the benefit of more layering and tracking, which really swirls the sparse melody around and around in your brain like a goldfish being flushed down the toilet [although the song is not nearly that traumatic]. Pretty isn't the best word for this song, but it's the first that comes to mind. It's the perfect slow number after about 6 minutes of rocking out. And thus, Jimmy Eat World's contributions come to a close.

Jebediah is up next. They contribute three songs. They all sound kind of pop-punky with an Australian overtone, kinda like if Frenzal Rhomb was on Jade Tree. Nothing is really memorable from their set, although it's kind of hard to find space in my memory banks for their hooks since JEW just overloaded my senses only minutes prior. Honestly, though, it makes no difference what Jebediah sounds like. It could be them farting into a mic for all I care, as nothing would compare to Jimmy Eat World's tracks on this release. Seriously. Everyone should buy this simply for those 3 songs. Have I ever led you astray?