It is difficult to describe Shit-Box Jimmy without arriving at “Just go see them play live.” The Cleveland three-piece has built steam in recent months, largely due to their efforts to play out and expose themselves — er, their music — to new people. This is a band that does not blend into the rest of the evening’s bill; the spastic, kinetic energy that they create is impossible to overlook. Front man Joey Nix loses control when he plays. It’s as if the songs combust and fight their way out of him — he howls with just a hint of twang — and this unrestrained delivery commands the notice of everyone in the room. “It’s a weird, raw energy,” he said, “I freak out up there.” Bassist Aaron Beck and drummer Drew Siegel are a bit more composed with their stage presence, and the authentic positivity and good-time attitude that they present results in a classic, yet original, live show. The members of Shit-Box Jimmy were elementary-school classmates. “Aaron was my first best friend,” said Nix. While it seems that most Cleveland musicians have traded in and out of bands, these three seem committed to each other and the vision that they have for Shit-Box Jimmy. Siegel started playing drums in 2008 and “learned to play to Joey.” Beck, the most diversely experienced of the three, started on keys and moved to bass when they lost a member toward the beginning. The band has been together for nearly three years, grew together, and plans to stick together. Shit-Box Jimmy is refreshing in the members’ perspective and enthusiasm toward music. Many musicians become burned out and tired of having convictions in an increasingly commercial industry. “I’m not saying I want to take over the fucking world, but I want to do something,” Nix professed. He plays and talks about music with boundless fervor; he is not affectedly nonchalant in his views. He and his bandmates share an adoration for old rock ’n’ roll with a concise message, forthright energy and sincere sentiment. Nix does not fancy himself a poet by any means. He emphasizes that Shit-Box Jimmy is based on feeling rather than carefully crafted lyrics. “Some people are really great with words,” Nix reflected, “but when you listen to a song, initially it’s what you hear and how it makes you feel. Then you start to analyze it.” The trio just released “Alive At The Door,” an 11- song LP that Nix described as “straight to the fucking point, fun time music. No overdubbing, no layering. We want it to sound the same as it does when you see us live.” All three members are ardent about this: “We don’t want to sell a record that’s not what you’d hear when you see us,” said Siegel. The album was recorded by Paul Maccarone at the 71st Door with this priority, and an aversion to overproduction. Nixexplained:“Somemusicianstrytobuildon top of their music, make it more than it really is, which can be cool. But sometimes I almost feel like it’s cheating; it’s not true, it’s not real. When we record, it’s just, ‘Tell us when to go, hitrecord.’Justaguitar,atuningpedalandan amp.” It is clear that Nix, Beck and Siegel know who they are and what they want to create: “Rock ’n’ roll,” said Beck, a man of few words. “Simple, straight and to the point,” continued Siegel. What keeps them from monotony and cliché in this pursuit is the genuine passion behind it. “I want you to feel the music like I feel it,” Nix proclaimed emphatically. If everyone in the crowd felt the music the way that he does, it would look like an epilepsy convention … in an awesome way. Shit-Box Jimmy plans to take their unpretentious tunes and restless legs on the road this fall when they release another LP, which is complete and ready to launch their adventure on the road. “In the last year we’ve gotten on a couple shows with good Cleveland audiences, and people started to come out more and care about us,” Siegel noted. Nix added: “We love Cleveland. We love the people that come to our shows. But we also want to play for people we don’t know — we want to see what happens.”