published: 11 /
6 /
2004
Label:
Damaged Goods
Format: CD
Sometimes fun, sometimes irritating Brit pop from Hull-based five piece, which proves to be a "not-quite comfortable fusion" of Blue, the Super Furry Animals and the Flaming Lips
Review
Age of Jets are five men from Hull who don’t seem to have realised that Brit-pop died a horrible death several years ago. As a not-quite comfortable fusion of Blur with a bit of Super Furry Animals and a touch of Flaming Lips-esque robot obsession (plus the obligatory indie-nods to Japanese culture) 'Go Go Gadget Pop' is an album that would have been perfect for the height of cool Britannia. The intro melody on ‘Peter and Sarah’ is – probably deliberately – hugely similar to Blur’s ‘Girls and Boys’.
At first this all sounds jarring and uncomfortable but if you can let your mind slip back in time some of it becomes pleasantly retro. While the musicianship and the singing are competent rather than outstanding the slick production crafts a number of catchy songs out of them.
Some of the tracks and their lyrics are so twee that it’s annoying in the extreme: ‘They just don’t know how to kiss like Eskimo’?, ‘Computers are fun: they’re internet talking’? Previous single RPM’s ‘computers write letters, they help us to communicate’ hook has to be one of the most annoying lyrics of the year and the vocodered repeating of the title merely adds to the frustration. Likewise ‘Volvo’ is an enjoyable pop number nearly ruined by a vocodered ‘We will rock you’ refrain that keeps popping up.
The moments when Age of Jets stop trying to be really clever and just get on with it are good fun though. If you’ve played 'Parklife' to death then this should prove a fine replacement. Personally, I think it’s still a bit early for a Brit-pop revival, especially one with this much vocal distortion.
Track Listing:-
1
Beast With A Billion Eyes
2
For The Love Of An Eskimo
3
Fun Fuhrer
4
Peter And Sarah
5
RPM
6
Robotman
7
Volvo
8
Popstars
9
Experience Goes A Long Way
10
Photos Of Dead Pets
11
Stormtrooper
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