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Latest gig review from National Gig Guide (of our gig at Bullet Bar, 25th Jan):
[Jetking at the Bullet Bar 25th January 2008]
The Bullet Bar is heaving, even for a Friday night. It can't be for the band who was playing when I came in - whilst they can hold a tune its nothing particularly inspiring. Maybe its for Red Vein, then, who put on a great show in an eighties indie style with vocal stylings not a million miles from Robert Smith. They get a good response, but the people are sticking around for something.
There's an atmosphere of extreme anticipation that is not dampened even under the frankly repetitive and dull meadnderings of Fuzztone Lily. No, these people want better.
When Jetking hit the stage you could literally have cut the atmosphere with a knife - it was literally that close to fever pitch.
They're a ragtag trio of thirty-something ex-indie kids but lets not hold that against them. They do, almost literally, keep the audience in the palms of their hands for the duration of their set.
Its indie, Jim, but not as we know it. Devoid of a traditional drummer they instead rely on programmed beats but not a formulaeic loopy incarnation - these are beats that a drummer would WISH they could pull off, full of manic tension. Cue an electronic version of Keith Moon.
There's also dirty electronic stuff dovetailing in with the drums and building to techno-groove crescendos at regular intervals.
The extremely chunky bass (real bass, played by a REAL bass player, not some plectrum chugger) is a beautiful thing - it moves you in directions you couldn't predict and it had everyone moving. Laid on top of this is equally chunky and rhythmic guitar playing from a guitarist with bags of bounce and a steely determination very evident in his tight and utterly captivating playing and also his no-doubt trademark facial grimaces.
The vocals are strong and pure. The vocalist is not a rock and roll frontman int he traditional sense; there's no histrionics from him, but he acts as the anchor to the manic elements going off around him.
The sound is modern if not ground-breaking, and very very accessible. Whilst it is clear there are already fans of the band in the venue (judging from their reactions to song announcements) there are also some Jetking newbies present. Cautious at first, they soon give themselves wholeheartedly to the vibe. I include myself in this.
Take a pinch of quirkiness, a heavy dose of bigbeat and electronica and a large side order of dirty indie with a tad of groove and you're pretty much there. They would trounce other bands that, on the face of it, are sharing similar ground in the "guitars and electronics" side of the music scene; most notably Bloc Party and the Klaxons should be looking over their shoulders around now...
Recommended viewing / listening. Catch them before they catch you in their sweeping net of energy. You have been warned...
NATIONAL GIG GUIDE
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