| Get Born | 2003 |
(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
For some reason, the moment I first heard sound clips from this cd, I thought immediately of the old Aerosmith ad in Rolling Stone promising that this band would "rip your a**hole a new a**hole." And that pretty much sums it up with these dudes - they RAWK your SAWKS off, and then go to their dressing rooms backstage and shag groupies while snorting various illicit substances of Colombian origin. They've got long hair, tight flares, and black leather jackets - yep, they're definitely into the whole "we want to be just like those cool '70s rawk dudes!" scene.
There are much worse scenes to be a part of, such as hip-hop, rapcore, and any major political party. And Jet actually does a reasonably convincing job of capturing the whole We're-stuck-in-1974-and-we-like-to-party-hard vibe. Take, for example, the best song on the cd - Are You Gonna Be My Girl. It has all the elements of a good 70s-ish rocker - a good riff,lyrics usually centered around picking up chicks in a macho sort of way or else doing other macho things, a good beat, and so on. The other rockers follow the same lines - a tight little riff, lyrics usually related to the female of the Homo sapiens species, and a sense of rhythm.
But hey! They're not just a bunch of loud, hairy men who sing about wanting to nail pretty young things. They've got a sensitive side, too! Unfortunately, they're about as sensitive as Bob Packwood, so the ballads aren't exactly what you might call convincing. Look What You've Done does have this nice Oasis/Beatles sound going for it, and Move On definitely has the whole 70s-acoustic-bluesy-ballad vibe, but lyrically, they're about as moving as the US Tax Code. Nice sound, though. Speaking of lyrics, this album IS a bit of a lyrical wasteland - nothing original or particularly intelligent - Bob Dylan these boys ain't.
Have I mentioned how much these guys dig the whole wanting to sound like they're from the 70s bit? Their sound really does have a lot of the blues-rawker elements in it - gritty, though not Sabbathy, guitars, the right sort of drumming, and they even throw in ORGAN embellishment for some of the ballads! My goodness! Mein himmel! Mi cielito lindo! OK, that last one really doesn't fit a whole bunch, but you get the idea - I'll bet you could convince somebody who doesn't know better that these guys toured with Free. This somebody will then look at you funny because they probably don't know who Free is, and then they'll walk off and go score with the cute chick you've been eyeing the whole time you've been at the frat party.
To wrap this up (so you'll take it), this is a fine little 70s-inspired rockin' listen. It's nothing special, nothing super original, but it is a lot of fun, and Are You Gonna Be My Girl rocks the casbah, and quite possibly other locations mentioned in songs by The Clash.
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