Derivative With a Kick

Get Born (Elektra)

Jet

By Kevin Gibson

Hailing from down under, Jet has taken off with a slight variation on the "garage rock" sound that has made a comeback in the pseudo-mainstream. Whereas the White Stripes of the world are throwing back to the 1960s, Jet seems to take its cues from the rock of the '70s. And Jet does it well.

"Rollover DJ" is as close as anyone has come in recent years to aping Bachman Turner Overdrive - and making it sound damn good. And with "Last Chance," the two-minutes-or-bust album opener, we are reminded of AC/DC in its prime. A couple songs later we are hit with "Look What You've Done," which comes across as a combination of "Golden Slumbers" and "Imagine" (and to complete the Beatles connection, Billy Preston adds keyboards on this disc). And, almost strangely, "Radio Song" swerves off into an Oasis-like thoughtful rant, pushing us completely out of context. Well.

The album tails off with the last two cuts, but most of this is just rollicking good fun. It's easy on the ears and, well, it just feels comfortable. If you can look past the obvious lifts and appreciated them as homage rather than rip-off, you'll dig this album as much as I do.