Jettblack

Get Your Hands Dirty

Price: 10.75

Review / Notes: Currently riding a wave of success gifted them through profile raising support slots with the likes of Airborne, Reckless Love and Whitesnake (not to mention a slew of summer festivals), UK quintet Jettblack certainly seem to have tapped into the psyche of the next generation of hard rockers. And cranking out as they do a no compromise, full blooded blend of classic rock n’ roll with a crisp modern twist, it’s easy to see why. As an advocate of the kind of old school rock and metal generally eschewed by the likes of MTV and Scuzz, I’m usually cautious when it comes to the type of bands that grace the pages of Kerrang! et all, but when a band this good comes along (and a homegrown one to boot), they become impossible to ignore. So what is it about Jettblack that makes them stand out from the crowd? Much like Airbourne with their modern take on that classic AC/DC sound, Jettblack revisit the bluesy hard rock roots of 70’s icons like Free and Bad Company, rough ‘em up a bit with a huge adrenaline kick, and then repackage ‘em for a young audience (and one or two old farts like me!). There’s a bit of glam overtone to tracks such as ‘Get Your Hands Dirty’, ‘Two Hot Girls’ and ‘War Between Us’, but not the kind of throwaway, banal stuff we were force fed by the likes of Faster Pussycat and LA Guns in the 80’s – no, to their credit Jettblack’s songs have much more substance than that. Ultimately, it’s the quality of their songs by which this debut album will stand or fall, and to these ears there’s a distinctly identifiable longevity clearly evident throughout its course. Strip it back to basics and great songs are all about big hooks and memorability, something Jettblack have definitely nailed with this release. Ok, the lyrics are kinda predictable (hey, we were all young, dumb and full of something or other at one point right?), but that merely serves to reinforce the freshness and vitality of their attack. One of the most exciting young bands to emerge from these shores in a long time, Jettblack will hopefully lead the charge to a brighter hard rock future! (D.Cockett)