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With the overwhelming success of their debut single "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" Australian band Jet poses the question that a million and one bands before them asked to legions of rock and roll fans through the ages. They also incorporate the musical influences of these bands from The Faces to the Rolling Stones with an eloquence that makes it new to an unsuspecting audience ready for basic rock quips. Taking their name from the post-Beatles' Paul McCartney project, the band is steeped more in Rolling Stone Exile on Main Street-era style rock and roll rather than McCartney's radio-friendly studio albums of the 70s. Comprised of the brothers Nic (guitar) and Chris Cester (drums) with Cameron Muncey (guitar) and Mark Wilson (bass) rounding out the line-up, this Melbourne four piece claim to "stand for everything that is raw, primitive, direct and loose about rock music." Their debut album, Get Born, weaves the dirty American garage rock influence with songs like the opener, "Last Chance," "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" and "Take it or Leave It" through the album with ease and ferocity. But even though these songs move at a frantic pace and instill the urge to rock, they are still more on the AC/DC side rather than punk legend countrymates, The Saints. Think, equal parts Stones, Faces and, if you had to add a fellow countryman, The Easybeats for their poppy punch because just as you are getting used to the rocking, the band manages to slow down the pace for "Look What You've Done" and continues on that pace for a while. According to Chris Cester, they didn't want to make a one-dimensional rock'n'roll record either. With that being said, songs such as "Look What You've Done" and "Move On" once again would point towards their apparent love for Exile on Main Street/Goat's Head Soup-era Rolling Stones, with their lazy, countrified influence. In their defense, if you were to be influenced by any band of any period, the Rolling Stones period is one of the best. Keith Richards picked up on the influences; word has it that after hearing Get Born, he asked the band to fill the support slot on the Australian leg of the Stones' tour. But let's say you have yet to hear those Stones albums, Jet's Get Born is a welcome 1-2 punch to the rock and roll community. A welcome distraction from the world at large. Who can fault them for that? |
