In the complex world of guitar rock, people are now talking about "emo", or "emotional rock" - fast, punky pop with unlikely romantic leanings. And kings of the genre are Arizona's Jimmy Eat World. This week's hottest band of 2002, according to the music press, they actually formed eight years ago, and have already been dropped by one major label, self-financed their new album, and been picked up by another label. They're getting a big push now because they're loud and frantic just often enough for pop's new young guitar crowds, although the Jimmies' grasp of melody would transcend any trends.
But there's a bit of audience confusion to clear up first. The young crowd - perhaps driven by a recent Kerrang! front cover - seem to expect nu metal, and greet the bewildered group with devil handsigns. Given that Jimmy Eat World have the most sensible haircuts in the house and sound as rebellious as the Police, this feels as daft as honouring John Major for his contributions to black magic. Almost as bizarrely, the band are twice the age of the audience and there's a distinct adult slant to their music.
Slowed down just a little, the Jimmies could be contemporaries of Split Enz and Graham Parker and the Rumour - in other words, the eighth hottest band of 1978. But their Foo Fighters/ Blink 182-style power excites the moshpit, while the passion and craft in their musicianship should win some older fans. Lyrically, singer Jim Adkins specialises in mid-life crises, but his words hit home with adolescents. "I'm not crazy because I take the right pills every day," he sings to loud cheers - but may not appreciate the mischievous double meaning. He doesn't exactly cut it as a rock star.
After a while, the mid-set drift towards soft rock and lack of onstage charisma take their toll, but the situation is retrieved with a blast of faster songs. The best of them is The Middle, a gloriously head-rushing melody that any generation would want to sing in the car. But you still can't help feeling that a square adult peg is being pushed into a round teenage hole.
· Jimmy Eat World play Norwich Waterfront (01603 632717) on Thursday, then tour to London and Wolverhampton.
