- Venue:
- ICA, London »
- Artists:
- Mystery Jets »
As the lights go down and the portentous weight of Handel's Sarabande thunders through the darkness, newbies could be forgiven for expecting a prog-rock display of epic, unsmiling proportions. It's not long before any such illusions are shattered noisily.
So far, Mystery Jets' quaint peculiarities - an island HQ, father-son relations within the band and a definite sense of the pastoral - have been painted lavishly by fans and critics alike. The uninitiated might anticipate hippy vibes and po-faced pretension, but Mystery Jets' oddness serves the music, rather than commanding it. Above all, they're fun - catchy, intoxicating and impossibly optimistic, in unexpected ways. Pedestrian chord changes are ousted in favour of race-to-the-finish-line musical sprees and clamorous harmonising - all of which clings to one's mind as firmly as any clean-cut chorus. Current single 'You Can't Fool Me Dennis' is instant and glorious, and the jackhammer bassline of the decidedly untremulous 'On A Trembling Day' delivers a hell of a kick to the collective head. 'Alas Agnes', meanwhile, twists the Libertines-spawned self-mythologizing urban shanty with some much-needed pop drama and surreality. It's as boisterous as it is charming, and as snappy as it is imaginative.
Amid the scenery of hung carpets and a canopy of light-bulbs that DiS suspects were thieved from the banks of the Thames, Mystery Jets' sense of theatrical mania leaves no room for tweeness or navel-gazing. Their frantic rhythm section, texturised by Blaine Harrison's array of scrap percussion, plunges the room into a feeling of carnival, spontaneous party, even bacchic frenzy, as an impromptu chorus of forty or so fans rush the stage and seize instruments. Forget the increasingly weary contrivances of a year of guerrilla gigs in trees, subways and zebra crossings; Mystery Jets prove that within the confines of four walls, rock 'n' roll can still be dynamic, hopeful and mercifully cliché-free.
Photograph by Josh Hall
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Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets
Mystery Jets
i've seen them several times and no-one has quite summed them up like that before (if that is even possible). I am also really quite suprised that you not only managed to reference the libertines but do it in a completely complimentary fashion.
They are the most earth-shattering live band and match it on record. Not only this but they are without doubt unparalled as individuals. They represent every single thing that is uplifting and important within music.
This review also highlights just why DiS is vital and the NME is dangerously flawed.

Mystery Jets
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