The first official CD release from the band, Jet. Released in the UK on September 15 2003.

First of all, I know next to nothing about this group. I know they are Australians who now enjoy hanging out in England and that Get Born is their debut album……and that’s it. Oh, and there are four of them (all with dangly bits) and they are hairy.

What I do know is that I enjoyed this CD. This music is part of the “new” rock that the popular press has dubbed Retro-Rock or, in some cases, Garage Rock (wtf? Doesn’t every band start in a garage? I thought that was traditional?). To me it’s no different to any other Rock that is played on the customary four piece of vocals, guitars, bass and drums.

The lead track, and indeed the best track on the album, Are You Gonna Be My Girl will probably be immediately familiar to 99% of the listeners as iMac bought the rights to use it as part of their advertising campaign. They made a good decision, it is a very energetic and enjoyable song.

My overall thoughts while listening to the album were “I’ve heard this before”. I got shades of the Beatles, the old 3 chords and nonsense lyrics of their early days, ACDC even, and Jet can really let loose with some crunchy rock when they are in the mood, The Rolling Stones, early Oasis and even Status Quo. Whether through lack of genuine creativity, lack of confidence or just the love of playing reworkings of classic riffs and rhythms, Jet deliver very little that is new or original with this album. Luckily, their own arrangements and raw sound deliver these old standards in a way that is very listenable. Old it may be, but they have given it a new freshness. For an old Rockhead like me it is quite a jaunt down memory lane (think of the first time you heard a Free album) and quite satisfying that kids are still churning out the music I love.

My one big criticism of Get Born is the ballads. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the worlds biggest fan of the ballad, but on any album it’s inevitable. Some I’ve enjoyed, others have cured my insomnia. Jet, love the ballad, they love it with a passion. They love it so much that this album of 13 tracks contains four of them. For me personally that is three too many, but if you are a fan of the more emotional sound of rock, then you may be happy to know that musically the band can deliver, in fact when they switch of the amps and go acoustic, they prove themselves to be quite capable musicians. Too many ballads for my taste but none of them sent me snoring.

So, I asked myself who would enjoy this CD? I think anybody really, there is very little on it to surprise, but there is also very little to disappoint those who like the genre. A good debut album and I hope that in their next offering Jet can deliver and/or develop their own style. The groundwork is all done, now the artistic side has to come through.

Oh, and there is only one way to listen to Jet, in a car, with the roof down on a sunny day on a wide open road…….just don’t blame me when you get a speeding ticket.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Last Chance
  2. Are You Gonna Be My Girl
  3. Rollover DJ
  4. Look What You've Done
  5. Get What You Need
  6. Move On
  7. Radio Song
  8. Get Me Outta Here
  9. Cold Hard Bitch
  10. Come Around Again
  11. Take It Or Leave It
  12. Lazy Gun
  13. Timothy

Released on the Elecktra label. Cat No 7559628922

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