The first of my many musical tumbls to come after a crazy 24 hours of new music appearing online. I figure 4 minutes of the new Mystery Jets single is easier to start with than an overwhelming 5th effort from The National, a slightly dissapointing second from Foals and more of the same from the ever-reliable Gaslight Anthem.
Mystery Jets, now just about to release their third album - something guitarist Will admitted he never thought would happen - have been one of my favourite bands since they wondered into the ‘Thamesbeat’ scene that fit in a pigeon hole large enough to encompass the huge variety that exuded from these bands deemed, at first, as too diverse to pigeon hole. Their first album, the magnificent Making Dens, which was awash with the prog influences inflicted upon singer Blaine by his father (and at the time fellow band member) Henry, drew few plaudits from a scene that had become enamored with the musicalised plight of the working classes, namely Arctic Monkeys, Hard-Fi and the like. Then came Twenty One, their self-confessed ‘coming of age record’, which saw the aging Henry leave the band, and a huge 80’s pop influence injected in his place. It was pretty much a totally new direction and saw them gain a fair bit of recognition, not least from the almost ‘Song of The Summer ‘08’, Two Doors Down.
All this brief history brings us to their brand new single Flash A Hungry Smile, which comes complete with lovely artwork of Blaine’s mouth stuffed with a couple of meatballs, like a contemporary, Swedish Crimson King. From the first few listens, it would seem they’ve stuck with the Aztec Camera-style upbeat pop that provided them with an excellent second album, and to my ears, it ain’t half bad y’know. Starting with a pomp not too dissimilar to Great Escape era-Blur, it explodes into a synth-heavy romp with a whistling riff to rival The Drums’ Let’s Go Surfing and restores my faith that not all of my favourite bands as a young teenager will fuck their careers with terrible career changes and overblown albums. It’s by no means the best song they’ve ever released but it’s by no means the worst; it’s catchy, highly listenable, and leaves me with a pleasing expectation of what’s to come from the good old Mystery Jets.
