Rating My CD's: You've Made a Fool of Everyone

26. Jet -- Get Born

I first reviewed this CD on the old version of this blog, The Notion, back in 2003, when everyone had discovered that rock n' roll was not, in fact dead. I had some notion in my head of a New Rock Quadrifecta of the Strokes, White Stripes, Hives, and Vines. I made a generalized statement about Australian bands not bothering too much about their appearance:

Unlike the The Strokes' rich-boy bum ensembles, the Hives' neo-mod uniforms and the White Stripes' peppermint chic, The Vines were the only band of the origonal "new rock" quadrifecta that didn't have a ready-made look (which may be why they've slipped off the radar screens). Australian boys play rock n' roll, unapologetically, and they know it ain't their job to look pretty. That's for the wankers from Pommey-land and pretentious Yanks.

Blissfully ignorant of my misspelling of "original," I go on to say that Jet rocks satisfactorily, but also brings the moody piano balladry, and that this was a good thing.

Eight years on, I'm tempted to search up a Where Are They Now file, but I'm almost positive I know the answer without Googling. They enjoyed copious amounts of cocaine. Their sophomore record stiffed. They bled members back to Australia, where those who haven't sunk into drug-induced uselessness are dreaming of a comeback [Corrections to this prognostication will be welcomed].

But what of Get Born, their two-hit wonder (the second hit being "Cold Hard Bitch")? Has repeated listenings changed my original estimate? Have I discovered deep tracks which make "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Look What You've Done" seem overrated? Is it time to revisit Jet?

No.

They had a song so genius-simple and bluntly-horny that it became a hit. They had another that wasn't half as good but fed into fear of the female, and it was less of a hit. They had a pretty good ballad that still sounds good today. That's it. They weren't as fantastic as their fans hoped, nor as bad as their bashers quipped.

So Hail and Farewell, Jet. For that little moment, we were all your girl.

Grade: L