Mystery Jets
With the new album, Serotonin already being hailed as one of the albums of 2010, it seems to be the perfect time to introduce the Mystery Jets to our little corner of London. Well-known as ex-residents of West London’s rock-n-roll-history-seeped Eel Pie Island, the band’s third album – their first for Rough Trade – is produced by Chris Thomas, legendary producer of Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure, the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy In The UK, John Cale’s Paris 1919, The Beatles’ The Beatles and Pulp’s Different Class. The album brings together the skiffly breathless feel of the debut and the increasing poppy sensibility of follow-up ‘Twenty One’, with a further push towards the psychedelic. The result is the album most of us wanted them to make; the pop of Young Love and the tenderness and art of Crosswords.
Blaine Harrison and ‘perfect dad’ Henry had played music together throughout Blaine’s childhood, so rather than forming a band with friends from school he simply invited friends to join him and his dad. William Rees joined on guitar, followed by Kai Fish and Tamara Pearce-Higgins on bass and keys. Kapil Trivedi completed the lineup and Tamara left the band, enabling Blaine to move from drums to keys and vocals.
Hailing from Eel Pie Island, famed for wild parties and legendary musicians in the 1960s, the Mystery Jets heralded a new era as they played relentlessly, inviting bands to join them for their ‘White Cross Revival’ and recreating the 1960s feel of the magical place. Guests included the likes of Acoustic Ladyland, Larrikin Love, Jamie T and The Noisettes. A demo, ‘Eel Pie Island EP’, was followed by an already much tighter band releasing the limited edition 7” ‘Zoo Time’ on Transgressive Records. It was the next single, On My Feet, which saw the band sign to 679 Recordings in 2005.
The three indie disco classic singles that followed gave the band a name beyond their Thames home – You Can’t Fool Me Dennis, Alas Agnes and The Boy Who Ran Away was the stunning 6 month run of singles that culminated in the debut album, Making Dens and a Top of The Pops appearance. 2007 was spent in that most typical of fast-rising bands way: world tour, rest, short UK club tour, and back in the studio.
The time away from Eel Pie Island certainly challenged the band to broaden their sound and scope. Henry had reluctantly stopped touring with the band soon after the debut album was released, though he still contributes to the songwriting, and the change of focus in the band seemed to bring about a clarity in outlook for the new recordings. Always in thrall to the spirit and sound of the 60s, the second album, Twenty One (2008), opened with the neo-80s stomper Hideaway and provided the chart singles Young Love (with guesting folk songstress Laura Marling) and Two Doors Down.
Serotonin continues the 80s focus – only the good parts, of course. On a healthy and nurturing label such as Rough Trade, it’s exciting to hear a band in their musical prime sounding so carefree, relying on talent instead of hype. The album has the added bonus of being completely tailor-made for festivals and we’ll be one of the thousands roaring our lungs out down the front.
