EP REVIEW: For The Family – Jetski
Often from the outset, bands will set themselves up with lofty ambitions of fame, success, and stardom, and few match the ambition of Sheffield-based emo rockers JETSKI brandishing the bold-as-brass claim of “The World’s Number One Band” – which is fighting talk if we’ve ever heard it. Following the release of five standalone singles since 2019, they bring their debut EP For The Family with three tracks chock-full of singalong melodies, indie-inspired guitars and infectious rhythms.
Opening with lead single Joey And Zoe, we are treated to a high-energy feel-good summer anthem with bouncing rhythms and even featuring some guitar lines resembling the banjo that make you want to get up and dance. This is a track that oozes positivity and youthful charm. It feels like the perfect accompaniment to summer holidays in your late teenage years, the lack of responsibility and a sense of invincibility. The bouncing metre of this track really allows drummer Alex Pullen to show off his abilities with tasteful yet imposing fills and grooves, truly becoming a highlight of the track. He is clearly a hard hitter with a great sense of feel and understanding of what the song needs, where to add his offbeat accents and fills and where to be song serving and more simplistic. There is a brief moment of respite during the bridge before returning to the thus-far usual proceedings following a hearty scream and abstract transition. The absorbing energy of this track justifies itself endearingly as the lead single, leaving you wanting a great deal more.
Jack’s Song follows this, opening with bassist Jack Gunn rendering a chord-based riff resembling something Mark Hoppus of BLINK-182 would write if you could slow him down to a cathartic groove. We see a more ponderous, reflective side of vocalist Charles Fitzgerald, with a tale of the struggles in friendships and mental health displaying boldly the depth of performance they have to offer with a masterful approach to dynamic variation. There’s a clean simplicity to the feel of Jack’s Song that gives it such a broad appeal, with a singalong melody that is bound to get audiences singing as one. This is a song to put an arm around someone you love and groove along to, lost in the music before jumping and screaming to the final raucous rendition of the chorus.
Carrying on the slower emotive feel we drop into Curbside, a swaying epic ballad which would act perfectly as the soundtrack to an impassioned climax of a film as our hero finally earns their elusive love interest. It opens with an ocean of ambience surrounding the arpeggiated guitar and harmonised vocals, holding you in a state of fluid motion until the driving drums enter. Tension builds to the line of “When is disaster due, for you” before a resolute trumpet-led anthemic chorus tackles you with a comforting melody akin to an ecstatic dream, abruptly plunging back into the ambient depths of the verse. JETSKI control the emotional journey you are led on like fervent guides, dropping you into a false lulling end before returning for a final impassioned hoorah. A soaring post-rock inspired lead from guitarist Eliot Pullen provides a wistful elation atop the chorus accompanied by a trumpet hook performing a conclusive rendition. After the staggered stab ending you are left lying in the dust and ambience in the fallout, akin to the euphoria after your first concert, we can only imagine the reception Curbside will receive in that environment.
For The Family truly shows why JETSKI are such an exciting outfit. They display a natural affinity for song-writing, meandering each song wherever it ought to go with earworm hooks that make you come back again and again. It would be interesting to see further exploration into varying some of their harmony, but this doesn’t detract from the quality of these three tracks. There is a distinct theme that flows through when listening to this EP, that you know these songs are meant to be heard live. The infectious emotional energy, impressive musicianship, and melodies written to be sung by hundreds mean these are songs constructed and arranged to be consumed in a sweaty room of raucous release. JETSKI may not yet have reached their daring claim of being “The World’s Number One Band”, but by this display we wouldn’t put it past them achieving it.
Rating: 8/10
For The Family is set for release on October 21st via self-release.
Like JETSKI on Facebook.