Mystery Jets

The punters packed into the Hi Fi bar early on Wednesday and staked out their places at the front of the barrier, keen to catch a glimpse of the wonder boys from Eel Pie Island, Mystery Jets. Joining in the party for their Australian tour were Sydney natives The Holidays. The quintet have earned quite a few followers since the release of their debut LP Post Paradise, and had lots of support from the crowd who were happily singing and dancing along to their chilled out sounds. The Holidays aren’t big on showmanship, they do little to interact with the audience and they seem to be a very tame bunch, with minimal onstage movement. As far as their performance goes, The Holidays are a laid back, fun band who were good, but not great. Their music is very enjoyable, which goes a long way to making up for their lack of stage presence, and the sound at Hi Fi for once was spot on so the vocals weren’t lost in the mix. Songs like Broken Bones, Slimeface and Golden Sky got a huge reception from the crowd and the band walked off stage to a healthy round of applause.

Mystery Jets descended the stairs and took their places to the sound of a few hundred screaming teenage girls. Bassist Kai Fish immediately mounted the drum kit and the set kicked off with a bang as the band launched into Serotonin and the crowd immediately went off. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Mystery Jets as there is a lot of hype surrounding them and even though their studio work is barrels of 80’s inspired poptastic fun, there is a very commercial-friendly bopper vibe about their music which didn‘t bode well for quality entertainment. However, while performing live they were excellent and I can see why the screaming teenagers were swooning so hard as Blaine Harrison crooned into the mic with all the confidence and flair of a whiter and skinnier version of Tom Meighan.

Mystery Jets were showcasing the tunes from their latest LP Serotonin, with only a few old tacks thrown into the mix. Highlights of the set included glorious renditions of Young Love, The Girl is Gone and Will Rees throwing down his guitar, grabbing the mic and pulling out some smooth moves as he took the lead with After Dark, with both him and Kai giving the fans a thrill by jumping into the crowd, with an appropriate level of mayhem ensuing. The boys wrapped up a tidy set with the killer single Dreaming of Another World and left the crowd to beg for more before returning for the encore with Flash A Hungry Smile and Flakes.

Mystery Jets put on a bloody fantastic show with their suave onstage moves, charismatic playful demeanour and gorgeous dream pop melodies. Praying hard that they’ll be back to visit us again soon.

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