The difficult second album has brought many bands back to Earth after a promising debut. With Shine On, Australian hard rockers Jet do their level best to avoid the follow-up doldrums. While nothing here is as immediate and memorable as "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?," the album stacks up well against Get Born. Working again with Dave Sardy, the band maintains its tough and alive sound and delivers the same mix of energetic rockers and introspective allads as before. They attack the songs with passion, wring plenty of noise from their instruments, and generally sound enthusiastic and creative. The hard rocking songs are what the band is mainly known for and there are some good ones on board, like the pounding "Rip It Up," "Holiday," and the chest-thumping strutter "Come on Come On." Unfortunately, there are also a couple of rockers that fall flat. "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" is a far too obvious attempt to recapture of the feel of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?," but only ends up sounding desperate. If ever a cowbell felt obligatory, it does here. A few others come up short in the lyrical department; "Stand Up" is a cringe-inducing statement of empowerment and "Holiday" is pretty silly, too. The real strength of the record, and of the band, comes through on the allads. When they drop the tough pose and get tender, Jet create some nice moments of emotion and melancholy beauty. Sure, the allads sound as if they were cribbed right from the Oasis playbook, from the sound of the vocals to the structure of the songs, but they don't sound phony or forced. Tunes like "Bring It on Back," "Kings Horses," and "Eleanor" are sophisticated, sensitive, and graceful-sounding, and "Shine On" provides some real emotional weight. Even better than the allads (which anyone who gave a real listen to the first album knew they could pull off) are the midtempo songs such as "Skin and Bones," the very hooky "Hey Kids" (which overcomes a very clunky Vietnam reference in the lyrics), and "Shiny Magazine," which show a middle ground between flat-out rocking and epic balladry where Jet sounds very comfortable. Shine On is a good album that avoids the sophomore slump, but has enough moments of rote rocking to make the next record a worrisome prospect. If they manage to tip the scales toward their tender and introspective side, Jet may turn out to be a band to reckon with.
Saw Jet with the Virgins opening. It was a concert decision based primarily on the fact that a)I was going to be in Atlantic City and b) Taking Back Sunday was sold out.First off, the concert was not sold out, and not only because it was the night before Easter. Also, Diana Ross was playing at the other theatre in the Borgata, but I highly doubt there was any crossover. :-P Anyway, the Virgins ...
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You probably know Jet, who are based here in Melbourne. Their new album is (I think) even better than their first, though it took me a few listens to realize it. It is also one of the most deftly produced rock albums you will ever hear. Bring It On Back will be the next single off of it, I hear. Jet wear their influences like a second skin, and this is not a bad thing at all.A subtle thing,...
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The thing about Shine On that you have to understand right off the bat: It's not a bad record. I'm not saying you'll love it either, but there are no tracks that will have reaching for the fast forward as you moan, "this is absolutely horrible." Jet really seem to like The Beatles and AC/DC, and like Oasis before them, the results of this retro fandom output plays more like a tribute bar band a...
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I just listened to Jet's new album "Shine On" for the first time through. Initially I'm very impressed. I loved the simplicity of the first album "Get Born" which this strays away from alot but it's still blaring Jet. I would say that the music has more depth to it and the lyrics send a more precise message. I'll expand on this after I listen to it a few times through.So far i'm really enjoying...
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You probably know Jet, who are based here in Melbourne. Their new album is (I think) even better than their first, though it took me a few listens to realize it. It is also one of the most deftly produced rock albums you will ever hear. Bring It On Back will be the next single off of it, I hear. Jet wear their influences like a second skin, and this is not a bad thing at all.A subtle thing,...
More >
The thing about Shine On that you have to understand right off the bat: It's not a bad record. I'm not saying you'll love it either, but there are no tracks that will have reaching for the fast forward as you moan, "this is absolutely horrible." Jet really seem to like The Beatles and AC/DC, and like Oasis before them, the results of this retro fandom output plays more like a tribute bar band a...
More >
This was one of those rare, real LOL moments. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a nine second video of a monkey drinking it's own urine speaks volumes.
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Saw Jet with the Virgins opening. It was a concert decision based primarily on the fact that a)I was going to be in Atlantic City and b) Taking Back Sunday was sold out.First off, the concert was not sold out, and not only because it was the night before Easter. Also, Diana Ross was playing at the other theatre in the Borgata, but I highly doubt there was any crossover. :-P Anyway, the Virgins ...
More >
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 "Shine On")
