Mystery Jets - 'Half In Love With Elizabeth'
HONESTLY! You know when you hate a band, then they release a good song and you have to get your head around liking it until you start telling everyone how amazing said song is, partly to justify your own appreciation of it in the face of your loathing for all the rest of their output and then, just when they've got you on board they release an absolute stinker again? It just makes you mad!
I really never liked Mystery Jets. I didn't really get the whole thing about them, and being the sort of person who comes over a bit funny and has to go and have a lie-down and restorative listen to some Thunderbirds Are Now! at the mere mention of prog, their original noodly indie output wholly passed me by. I'd got quite into the idea that I deeply disliked them when I was caught unawares in a popular sandwich retailer by the shameless seasonality and general youthful joys of 'Two Doors Down' and had to spend a few hours re-evaluating my life.
The trials of being a total geek aside, I'm not the only person who thought "cor, this lot have gone properly brilliant, I can't wait for their next single" and consequently, probably not going to be the only person quite heinously disappointed by this.
I wouldn't say 'Half In Love With Elizabeth' was a return to their previous sound, which, while not at all to my taste I could sort of see merit in and was at least different. Instead, I would say it sounds overwhelmingly like something else; possibly the first Killers album covered by the Klaxons. Interesting, maybe enjoyable, but just not quite wondrous retro-pastiche music that's about as fashionable as a geography teacher, and that's always disappointing.
It's not that it's an utterly loathesome song, you understand and I hope I've managed to reflect that in the rating. No, in fact, it's quite a good song, really; if it was on Tom Vek's first album I'd've probably had some sort of paraplysm of joy about the whole thing, from its clunky beat to its strange, cynical lyrics but; no. The sheer amazingness of 'Two Doors Down' completely blinded me regarding the whole Mystery Jets experience to a degree that unless this had been a piece of pop in equality with the aforementioned single, it's inevitable that I end up feeling disgruntled and rather like I've been tricked into liking them.
Yes, sure, this is a catchy song with an unusual lyrical theme (or well, a regular lyrical theme unusually executed) and yes it's an astonishingly masterful blend of the elements which constitute good modern chart indie but what I wanted was a cover of 'Would I Lie To You?' by Charles and Eddy or something, not a song that is, bluntly, cool.
This'll be a hit down the indie disco and it's a new sound for them, it's just sort of dissatisfying that it sounds so ...well, normal.
Download: Out now
CD Released: August 25th
(Hazel Robinson)
PS: For news about free Mystery Jets downloads, go ...
Comments Post your comment