_____This time last year, had you stood on an appropriately populated street corner and called aloud for some fashionable bands which you could talk about at fashionable parties in order to seem fashionable, I doubt anyone would pay attention to you, as urban centres tend to be very hostile and unsociable places these days. Had you then located an internet café in which to ask the internet for assistance, you’d probably be living a lot more than one year ago, as the development of broadband has almost completely decimated the internet café business. However, had you then whipped out your iPhone like you should have done in the first place and Asked Jeeves it, your handheld screen would most likely have filled up with in-your-face indie bands such as The xx, Foals; dig a little deeper and you’d find the more modest Bombay Bicycle Club, Bat For Lashes, etc. And then you’d go off your fashionable party where fashionable people would view you as at least a mildly fashionable with a good taste in music. Congratulations.
___But what is to be observed here, is that all these are British bands. British bands have dominated the indie/indie rock music scene for the past few years, and in all honesty, deservedly so; Australia’s been to busy being a year behind the trend with excuses like Empire Of The Sun, and with most of America laughing as Europe lapped up what they rejected in Kings Of Leon, a woeful Foo Fighter’s single was about all they bothered to contribute. This time right now, on the other hand, is quite a different story. The Drums are spearheading a revival of American indie-rock which has given rise to new delights like Surfer Blood, the musical renewal lended further momentum as Vampire Weekend kicked back into gear earlier this year. All the same, I will now urge you not to listen to your wi-fi connection, and don’t convert to Barack’s battalion of new generation indie bands, as in my opinion, those across the water are doing it today better than ever, Mystery Jets’ latest album the truest of examples.
_____That there is the opening track from a third album which I simply could not imagine how it might live up to the standards of Twenty One, the affair I had with it early last summer having transformed into a long-term love. And as a track, it perfectly illustrates how Mystery Jets are in a peculiar class of their own when it comes to premium indie music, a genre which has received more criticism than Nu Wave did in the years before its demise. Too many similar bands are too obsessed with hairstyles and too busy synthesising everything in sight, so much so that they have, amidst the chaotic apathy, misplaced their testosterone!
___Accidentally stumble into Crystallised down a dark alley, and it’d probably hastily throw the contents of its handbag at you before menstruating as it scurried awkwardly away; Forever And Ever Amen sounds exactly like the type who gets drunk off two glasses of Chardonnay at the New Year’s soirée. Mystery Jets, however, are a different story altogether. Although the vocalist has quite a delicate voice, this is more than accounted for with whole-hearted riffs and belting choruses. Waiting On A Miracle, although sounding strangely alike Olivia Newton John’s 80’s hit Physical, is inspiringly good, while title track Serotonin just screams single somewhere down the line.
___That’s not to say I argue with the band’s first choice of single, Dreaming Of Another World ranks alongside Flash A Hungry Smile as my favourite tracks on the album; it wouldn’t have had to share the honour if it weren’t for the latter’s brilliant lyric heard at 0:59.
_____Lyrics such as that are perhaps the reason why Mystery Jets are so goddamn loveable. It’s exactly that cheeky yet undeniably adorable aspect to their sound that sets them apart from the likes of The xx, who practically mumble in their songs. You can’t help get the sense the words in Show Me The Light actually mean something to the singer, that there’s a story behind the superb album closer Lorna Doone. Mystery Jets possess a genuineness in their music that is just lacking in much of the other indie music you hear talked about at those fashionably dull parties.
___I said I wasn’t sure if Serotonin could match their previous record, if anything they wrote could sound anything like Hideaway, Young Love, Two Doors Down, and practically every song on that album, and I’m afraid I don’t think they’ve quite managed it. They’ve come awfully close though.
A2
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