Labels: Jade Tree Records
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Ooh, ooh, JTB have got Blake from Jawbreaker in them. They’ve got the drummer from Texas Is The Reason in them. They’ve just recruited a guitarist from the Van Pelt. Stop it. Don’t use any of the above as an excuse to buy this record. Use this as an excuse to buy this record:
The albums a bit special.
I kept changing my mind. One minute I’d love this thing, the next it’d be merely good. Right now I adore it, maybe one day I’ll think it’s just solid again. And OK, so the Jet’s are just another indie rock band who are pushing the boundaries of originality about this far: – , but hey, they’re a mighty fine mature indie rock band and they are doing exactly what they want to. Blake had no need to go and form another band, but here they are. And they’ll rock you in a certain way – for me it’s an unfeasibly pleasant, somewhat ‘friendly’ way.
This isn’t “Unfun” or “Do You Know Who You Are?”. That’s clear from the first guitar crunch. Straight down the line pop and rock with indie is what we have here. I’m not sure what the twist is. Perhaps it’s the cool, intelligent lyrics, or just the feeling of warmth that the whole thing generates. Sometimes there’s a bit of an 80’s feel to the songs, other more acoustic efforts flash Fountains of Wayne at me using funny smoke signals. I can’t help but mumble incomprehensively about the brilliance of the tunes and words of the likes of “Starry Configurations” and when the Jets wimp out totally on the wonderful “Sweet Avenue” I’m scrambling for the superlative dictionary.
Blake can also sing pretty well which came as quite a surprise to me who had previously only heard him on “Unfun”. Still, he sneaks in a bit of self deprecating humour on “I Typed For Miles” with the line ‘Note to self: noone cares, your voice is average’.
Maybe it’s something about albums on Jade Tree. This and the last Promise Ring album are just so nice to listen to that I can’t help but put them on again and again. I can tell that in a few months this will still get play even when I’ll have bought even more stuff to listen to. Why? Because it just *is*.