Automated Smiles, a quartet from Birmingham, UK, has had popular Arizona (USA) band Jimmy Eat World deny any claims that the band in any way influenced Automated Smiles, bar the fact the name was taken from a line in their song, Electable (Give It Up).
Frontman for the band, which had several Number ones in the Billboard Alternative Albums, Jim Adkins said in a conference, "...in no uncertain terms that my band has never met the four students who compose Automated Smiles, and we insist the moody alt-rock songs they perform in local bars could not possibly have been derived from [Jimmy Eat World's] subtle fusion of shoegazer, pop-punk, and hard rock."
"There is no way that by listening to our major-label debut Bleed American or our sophomore release Clarity, changed the way they listened and thought about modern rock," said Adkins, to which the other band members, their lawyers, music industry experts, and Universal Music agreed.
Automated Smiles, whose MySpace, Ping, and Facebook profiles list Jimmy Eat World as notable influences, have played house parties, bars and clubs around central Birmingham, have not gained a substantial following, with only 13 total followers/friends on the three social networks listed.
In their "keyboardist needed" flyers, it is written that the band are a cross between Jimmy Eat World and Britpop.
"That's bull!" exclaimed lead guitarist Tom Linton. "Where's the slow, airyness of Static Prevails, or the biting guitars of Bleed American? These things are absent from their demos they put on their MySpace."
However, bassist Rick Burch decided the band should see Automated Smiles live, before making a judgement.
But after chartering a jet halfway during their US tour to Birmingham to see the band play at a bar, the Warped Tour headliner band decided they had no part in shaping the band at all.
"They suck," said producer Mark Trombino, who is working on Jimmy Eat World's new album. "Simple as."
The pop-rock band Metro Station - also listed as an influence - say "we're flattered," and "love Automated Smiles."
