Roll the bloody hell over DJ, because Jet have officially rebooted their engines. The prophecy has been fulfilled, and the noughties Aussie rock titans have reformed ahead of a run of monster shows supporting the one and only Bruce Springsteen on his forthcoming Australian tour.
If you’re a fan of Jet, then you probably don’t need us telling you why you should be pumped AF about this news. But just in case you need a refresher, here are a few cheeky reminders.
1. The Mystery
For those planning to get their mits on tix to see Jet pre-heat the stage for Mr. Springsteen, there’s going to be a strong element of excitement and mystery surrounding their performance. Remember, nobody has seen the Melbourne act play live since 2011, and a lot can happen in six years.
What do Nic & Chris Cester, Cameron Muncey and Mark Wilson even look like now? And more importantly, have they still “got it”? Either way, the anticipation for that moment when the arena goes silent, the lights go down, the stage lights up and we all get to find out, is going to be one hell of a thing.
(FYI here’s what appears to be the most recent promo pic of Jet, posted on their Facebook page last year):
2. The Old Shit
Over their three album-spanning career, Jet served up classic-rock inspired banger after classic rock-inspired banger, all the way from their earth-conquering debut single Are You Gonna Be My Girl? to their final entry Seventeen in 2010. So you can bet your boho scarves that they’ll be punching out a setlist packed full of all your faves: Rollover DJ, Cold Hard Bitch, Look What You’ve Done, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, Shine On, She’s A Genius, the list goes on.
3. Nostalgia Jollies
The experience of seeing Jet live in concert in the year 2016 will no doubt invoke multiple pangs of glorious nostalgia.
As they take the stage, feel yourself journeying back to the early 2000s, a simpler time when the future was filled with promise and your dreams had yet to be decimated by a bleak and vacuous world filled with soaring housing prices, ISIS and Kardashians. A time when rock music was not only alive and well, but also fresh and exciting.
4. A New Appreciation
It’s entirely possible that Jet disbanded before you really got the chance to appreciate them live. During the band’s heyday in the early-to-mid noughties, the majority of high-school aged fans living outside the country’s major metropolitan hotspots probably didn’t have the courage (or the permission from Mum and Dad) to start venturing forth to the Big Smoke to attend festivals and gigs yet. And bully for those who did, but it was so long ago now that your teenage memories are probably a wee bit hazy (also depending on how much carpark-goon you were necking at the time). So Jet’s reformation also marks your chance to get a new appreciation for all of your old fave tunes, live, with your now (hopefully) adult brain.
5. The Prospect Of New Shit
Alls-we-know so far is that Jet are reforming to support Da Baws, but following that, it’s anyone’s guess. Will they stay together to tour off their own steam? Will they record new music? Have they secretly been recording new music this whole time in a bunker hidden somewhere beneath the earth’s crust? Only time will tell.
6. Permission To Mosh
With a few rare exceptions, the current musical landscape in ‘Straya is undeniably dominated by a proliferation of indie, electro, folk and hip-hop acts. Go on, take a look at any festival bill in the country RN – Falls, Yours & Owls, Field Day, pretty much anything that’s not UNIFY – and try to name us more than one guitar band that can get thousands of people moshing like fkn this –
The world needs more Jet.
7. The Resurgence Of Aussie (Non-Dad) Rock
Any Aussie band that still gets by playing straight-up meat-and-potatoes rock n’ roll almost invariably gets tarred with the derogatory brush of “dad rock”. Even veteran bands that are still putting out new music like The Living End or The Superjesus seem to always get stiffed with this “dad rock” tag. Which isn’t that big a deal for them; they suckled at the sweet nipple of success back in the day and as a result plenty of Aussie dads do love ’em.
But it seems IMHO that guitar-driven music isn’t deemed radio-worthy these days unless it’s rough as guts and intoned with pitchy vocals, or else stuffed full of synth tracks and metalcore screams with production up the wazoo.
Jet are one of the only international-sounding Aussie riff-peddlers who still have the clout to buck this trend without a major shift in the industry doing the bucking for them (others like Silverchair, Powderfinger & Grinspoon all remain MIA). Sure, plenty of dads might still be fans, but with the majority their core fanbase now aged in their 20s and 30s, Jet aren’t old enough yet to be considered rock fossils. They’re still, for the most part, pretty relevant. And if they were to say, start putting out new music, they’d be even more so.
And because of the way the industry works – what with one successful act in a certain genre germinating into success for dozens more – this could very possibly open the flood gates for a brand new crop of Aussie guitar bands to finally have their moment in the sun.
I’m talking about bands like Power, Rackett, The Dead Love and countless other insanely good young live acts that you’ve probably never heard of because they don’t get flogged on your radio.
It may be a stretch, but a fully fledged Jet comeback – if successful – could be a real game changer for lovers of Aussie rock music. And that, friends, is definitely something to get pumped about.
Watch: JET – ‘Roll Over DJ’
