1 part Jack Daniel’s, 1 part Triple Sec, 1 part sweet & sour mix, 4 parts 7-Up et voila, heaven in a cocktail glass.
The Lynchburg Lemonades may have been inspired but there was something about Jet’s first JD-assisted visit to Ireland that was decidedly, er, lagging.
A band being knackered from spending as many hours in the air as your average Boeing 747 I can forgive. That tiredness extending to the vast majority of their songs I’m not so sure about.
Whereas the likes of Interpol and Franz Ferdinand build on their retro influences, the Australians are so religiously devoted to theirs that they might as well go the whole hog and become a tribute act.
‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl?’ is one of the best songs Iggy Pop never wrote, sure, but it doesn’t excuse the lame Beatle-ry of ‘Look What You’ve Done’ or the bolting together of ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’ which comprises their new single, ‘Move On’. Worse still are ‘Get Me Outta Here’ and ‘Cold Hard Bitch’, songs that are obviously intended as homages to Gimme Shelter-era Stones but barely pass muster as Stereophonics C-sides.
On the plus side, Jet are as tight as fuck, make a huge noise for a four-piece and are sufficiently oooh-ed and ahhh-ed over by the female members of the crowd to suggest that The Strokes have serious competition in the cute boy stakes. It’s also fair to say that by the time the thank you and goodnight! cover of ‘That’s Alright Mama’ arrives on the scene, the joint is pretty much jumping.
They just about get away with it tonight, but unless Jet develop a personality of their own they’re always going to be overshadowed by their heroes.