Attending the Jetglo album launch party on Saturday reminded people in the room what it was like to be in a band. While most present were undoubtedly family members and other relatives and the supporting band most definitely dad-rock, they did not care one bit. Rightfully so, when your latest album is full of rock anthems and confident delivery.
The album in question, ‘Big City Lights’, has been in the kiln for some time. The first track off the album, ‘Come Alive’, was released in single form a year ago, and since then they have been busy recording and mixing their debut album. For the live performance, they dropped all the electronic elements of this song, and in fact on the whole album, and just stuck to guitars and drums. This worked well, as they do not need to shy away from being perhaps a bit bare bones, as their style far more suits this approach. The aforementioned ‘Come Alive’, along with ‘Like a Scratch’ align themselves with The Enemy’s earlier work, and perhaps maybe wishfully, Foo Fighters. This is no bad thing, as there is not nearly enough of rock music like this these days.
The band formed in 2009 after they each decided to move down to sunny Brighton in search of a band that fitted their style. Well, they certainly look comfortable with the style they have found, and the confidence shines through. Other songs on the album such as “Hush Hush” liken themselves to more recent bands such as Catfish & The Bottlemen. I cannot quite pin Andrew James’ vocals down, but they certainly add years of wisdom to the band, in a similar reaction to when you realise George Ezra is only 21. Each band member carries their weight within the band, with meaty bass lines, melodic riffs and indie hi-hat action from Anthony on drums.
At the end of the night, the band handed out free stickers of the album artwork to spread the word around the town. With the variety and catchy indie riffs shown on this album, I am sure they will stick around and come alive in years to come.
‘Big City Lights’ is available to purchase now from iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.
Reviewed by Harry Barnes.
