"Untitled" by Knuckle Puck
And a Jimmy Eat World album from 1999
With Knuckle Puck celebrating the (oh god, already?) ten-year anniversary of 2015’s Copacetic by releasing a remastered version, today I’m revisiting my introduction to them — album closer, “Untitled.”
But first, a detour.
A (relevant) tangent about a twenty-five-year-old album
It’s no secret Jimmy Eats World’s Clarity stands as a cornerstone of the emo and pop-punk scene, its influence running deep and reaching wide.
Somewhere in my childhood bedroom lies a dust-covered bonus DVD detailing the making of Underoath’s They’re Only Chasing Safety. On it, drummer/vocalist Aaron Gillespie describes the album as their effort to make Clarity meets Glassjaw.
Manchester Orchestra recently co-headlined a U.S. tour with Jimmy Eat World. In the lead up, the two released covers of one another to promote it. Manchester chose “Table for Glasses” - Clarity’s iconic opening track. Debuting it, Andy Hull of Manchester told Jim Adkins (the titular Jimmy) they approached the song as if it were “sacred,” adding their signature musicality and flourishes with reverence1.
Overt references to the album and band appear across songs from the last twenty plus years. Something Corporate’s “Konstantine.” A Wonder Years b-side. Songs by Real Friends, Ben Rector, and handfuls of others. They even have a Taylor Swift nod.2
The actual song discussion
So, what does this have to do with a Knuckle Puck song from ten years ago? Well, beyond being a powerful closer on its own merit, it’s also the most faithful recreation of Clarity’s conclusion, “Goodbye Sky Harbor” I’ve ever heard.
I want to be clear — this is far from me calling “Untitled” derivative. Instead, it’s a celebratory nod to how Sky Harbor still resonates today. And it's a reimagination of the song in 2015’s more gritty pop-punk ethos.
Like how from the jump, there’s more angst and edge to Knuckle Puck’s dual vocal delivery. But the song delivers Clarity vibes and comparisons, starting with the lyrics.
The opening verses of Untitled walk the vague-but-relatable tightrope of quintessential emo classics.
Silhouettes on the ceiling
I’ve been much better but at least I’m healing
You know I haven’t slept since you left, but for me that’s progress
I’ve been fraying at the fabric
Strung out and biting on the back of my upper lip
I’ll tell you everything is copacetic
These lines are targeted, but abstract. Details like, “biting the back of my upper lip,” convey a sense of modern anxiety through specificity, but maintain an ambiguity allowing them to relate to all sorts of experiences.
Sky Harbor did the same in 1999, but with big, coming-of-age sorts of existential wondering, full of questioning and abstract self-reflection.
Is tomorrow just a day like all the rest,
How could you know what you just did?
So full of faith yet full of doubt, I askAgain, I shall ask you this once again
He said, “I am but one small instrument”
Do you remember that?Time and time again, you say “Don’t be afraid”
The only voice I want to hear is yoursSo here I am above palm trees so straight and tall
You are small, getting smaller
But I still see you
Those are all the words to Sky Harbor. Jim never expands on the imagery nor answers any of the questions. In the same vein, Untitled never offers resolution nor closure, only sparse details and a lingering sense of restlessness amidst modest progress.
The songs also parallel in how effectively they conclude their respective albums.
Sky Harbor closes out the album’s themes of seeking, well, clarity, in their relationships, their lives, and their art. We see these ideas addressed across the record asking questions like, “Do you believe in what you want?” and declarations like, “Here you can be anything, anything that scares you, and I think that scares you.”
In contrast, Knuckle Puck’s album dives more into the reality of feeling lost in life. Not seeking clarity, but resigning one’s self to live without it. Copacetic opens with “Wall to Wall (Depreciation),” a self-evaluation that comes up wanting.
I'll seek my value underneath
Wall to fucking wall depreciation
You twist my tongue with costly dividends
Twice the effort, half the outcome
And how can I step forward when there’s not much to step for?
I’m sinking lower with every growth spurt
Decay, decay, decayI guess you’re just not wired that way
It must be nice to be so figured out
And that’s on top of how the album’s mid-point, “Ponder” previews the album’s eventual ending with harmonic vocalizations and the repeated, “I’ll tell you everything is copacetic.” It’s from here the opening lines and refrains of Untitled shine brighter, depicting a sense of growth throughout the album, non-linear though it may be.
But the most direct comparison is inarguably the extensive outros. Both use looped elements, creating an atmosphere of simple, overlapping melodies, evolving over time, becoming increasingly distinct from the rest of the song.
The genius of Sky Harbor’s composition is how it ebbs and flows through so many different moments, yet feels organic and atmospheric throughout. From the three minute mark, it’s a typical Jimmy Eat World instrumental. Twinkly telecaster leads and heavy chugged rhythm chords, layering additional guitar melodies on top. From there, Jim begins to vocalize, replacing guitar lines by singing them, one by one. This continues until he’s singing at least half a dozen melodies, all looping over one another atop the rest of the band.
Around the twelve minute mark (yes, nine minutes have passed), all but the drums and vocals have faded out - the entire experience now reproduced with vocal riffs. In the closing minutes, they reintroduce more aggressive, programmed percussion to push the song and album to its final conclusion with the last refrain, “I am but one small instrument, do you remember that?”
Knuckle Puck follows a similar, though simpler trajectory. As Untitled passes into its final movement, it maintains the full band’s presence. It first settles into a distorted guitar arpeggio. Down-strummed acoustic chords work in a repeating melody while both guitars circle over elongated bass notes with rim hits and cymbal work on the drums. They then introduce little piano runs and vocal melodies (see 5:46) which, honestly, feel like they could be samples right out of Sky Harbor (I checked, it’s not officially listed).
Untitled builds on this culmination and, like Sky Harbor, reprises lyrics in a round as the song fades out, repeating “I’ve build my guard up to the clouds, I’ll tell you everything is copacetic” and “I’ve been much better, but at least I’m healing.”
It’s the latter line that gets the final say. A recognition of life as a constant, messy work in progress where vulnerability can be terrifying, but healing.
All told, this is but one small instrument example of how Clarity and Jimmy Eat World continue to serve as the shoulders on which the emo and pop-punk scene stands.3 Yet Knuckle Puck’s approach highlights how the genres have evolved from 1999 to 2015 and to present day with the remastered release.
Where Clarity poses questions about the future, full of potential and yearning, Untitled answers with modern anxiety, resignation, and just a dash of hope.
For a fun comparison, sister-duo JOSEPH also covered “Table for Glasses” last year. The difference? They only discovered the song when someone suggested they cover it. It’s cool to hear how their approach considers the original without the legacy of Clarity informing it. If you like harmony, listen to JOSEPH.
The “Shake It Off”’ line, “I’ve got this music in my mind sayin’ ‘It’s gonna be alright’” is definitely about “The Middle,” right? — she even had that Apple Music commercial where she lip syncs to the song!
You can also hear how Jimmy Eat World re-contextualized Sky Harbor during a live recording of Clarity in 2024. In short, they trim it down by about half. I really dig the more full instrumentation that kicks in around 6:22 and the more declarative final refrain. I’m less a fan of the bit-crushing fade out as opposed to the original, but it’s cool to hear the song live either way.