Say what you will, but it’s hard to deny that Jet got it right on their 2003 debut album Get Born. It rocked enough, it was nostalgic enough and it was just fun enough to not only sell over 9 million copies, but also become one of the best straight-forward rock and roll albums of the decade. Others would disagree with me of course; some have called Jet a poor imitation of their influences and others have cited the band’s pretty mindless lyrics as reasons why Jet shouldn’t be held in such high esteem. One review of the band’s first album even went as far as calling their hit single “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” ‘creatively bankrupt.’ Of course my opinion on the band is very different. The way I see this Australian bred group is that as long as Jet continues to make fun, ‘70s influenced rock and roll – I’ll continue to listen. On the band’s third album, Shaka Rock, Jet begins to lose their grip on the endlessly catchy rock tunes that they were able to fill Get Born with. In their place is a handful of familiar fun-loving rock songs mixed in with some pretty awful filler.
Jet hasn’t changed much at all since 2003. The band still specializes in sounding like a slightly modern ‘70s rock band, playing music that often times seems like it infringes on rather than is influenced by bands like The Stones and AC/DC. This wasn’t a problem, at least for me, when the band was writing songs as memorable as the ones found on the best of their debut album. But when their sound begins to get sluggish and unimaginative like it does on Shaka Rock, the plagiarism is even more evident. It almost becomes a moot point when the music is just down right boring though. Songs like the embarrassingly blunt album opener “K.I.A. (Killed In Action)” and the dull as ditchwater slowed down song “Walk” are seriously not worth anyone’s time. “Seventeen” tries to catch the ear with a backing piano during the verses, but unwisely ditches the ivory keys for boring power chords during the forgettable chorus. Meanwhile songs like “Times Like This” and “Start The Show” are upbeat rock and roll tracks, but neither seem to do much but skate along in banality with no real direction.
My first couple listens of Shaka Rock were nothing but sheer disappointment. But upon repeated listens I was able to dig deep enough to find a few tracks that were keepers. The first single from the new album, “She’s A Genius,” will certainly not have the shelf life that any of Jet’s early singles achieved, but it is catchy enough to pay attention to. “Black Hearts (On Fire)” is one of the more interesting tracks on the disc. Riding a steady r&b flavored bassline and driven by a rather atypical two part chorus, at least for Jet, the song is only brought down by its generic second chorus and the less than scholarly lyrics that accompany it. “Your heart’s on fire but you’re cold to the touch/ I know you want to/ But you love yourself too much.”
The highlight of the album though is clearly the short but sweet “La Di Da.” The song is easily the most inventive and well written track on the entire album and the only number that features a chorus that doesn’t bring down the song as a whole. At only 2:53 it’s the second shortest song on the record and the only one that seems to end way too soon. Sadly Jet wasn’t able to capture the magic of previous hits or the wonderful “La Di Da” on the remainder of the very porous Shaka Rock.
A band can only do the same thing so long before being forced to either reinvent themselves or become altogether irrelevant. With a band like Jet, a group that was basically a one trick pony to begin with, irrelevancy can come much faster than expected. After a fantastic debut album and a decent follow up, Jet is taking their steps into the deep dark pit of musical insignificance. I guess to sum it up; as long as Jet continues to make mundane, not so fun ‘70s influenced rock music – I’ll stop continuing to listen.
"Shaka Rock" is on sale August 25, 2009 from EMI.
