Pigeon John and Flynn Adam, both formerly from hip-hop group LA Symphony, dropped an E.P. last Tuesday under the name of Rootbeer.  With 5 tracks and not even 20 minutes of music there was many opportunities for me to listen through it again and again since it was released.  With the top tracks Chimpanzee and title track, Pink Limousine, it is clear that Rootbeer has developed their own brand of hip-hop.  It is animalistic, fast pace and fun.  They have struck gold on these two tracks that would be pleasing to any fan of P.J or Flynn or (any Hip-hop head for that matter).  Girlies is a fun track with a distict Rootbeer sound as well but it takes a back seat to the others.  The last two tracks are Under Control which is starting to grow on me with out it having any special qualities, and So Good with is a throw back to Pigeon John's Sings The Blues.

There is probably a psychology to surrounding live albums.  I don’t have my degree in it but I suppose if you are a die-hard fan you are going to buy it regardless if they are great or not.  I believe that bands put out live albums for one of two reasons, record contracts need to be filled or money needs to be made without making new material.  In this case Jimmy Eat World is self-releasing their live album on their own website so I believe it’s the latter.  They do have enough fans to make a few bucks with a self-released live album.

How good is it?  Well you have to consider that its live (4/5 to start) and the fact that Jim Adkins is unable to do layer after layer of recorded vocals means that Tom Linton is key to filling in behind him doesn’t help (3/5 now).  But it is Jimmy Eat World and these guys have been killing it for ten years now.  Besides who doesn’t have great memories of blasting the song Bleed American out of their car stereo as all your passenger friends sang along?

I’ve been a fan of Jimmy since 2001 so I missed the first round of Clarity.  This time it’s a choice and I’m going to let this album go to the die-hard collectors.  The fact that the album track listing isn’t posted and you can’t get 30 second sound clips on the site makes you hesitate to pull the 8.99 trigger (Did I mention it is the Clarity Album (but Live) + two encore tracks?).

But know this - the fact that the concert was recorded in their home state promises that the every song will have sing-along gang vocals to accompany you on a lonely drive to work any time you need them.  If anything, this will make you want to go and revisit your old Clarity album again with a much new appreciation.

Find “Table To Glasses” streaming on their Myspace Page. www.myspace.com/jimmyeatworld