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Track Listings
| 1. Hideaway |
| 2. Young Love (Featuring Laura Marling) |
| 3. Half In Love With Elizabeth |
| 4. Flakes |
| 5. Veiled In Grey |
| 6. Two Doors Down |
| 7. MJ |
| 8. Umbrellahead |
| 9. Hand Me Down |
| 10. First To Know |
| 11. Behind The Bunhouse |
| 12. Somewhere In My Heart |
Product Description
Review
Think that your favourite band is capable of throwing up the most arcane and cringworthy influences whilst keeping a straight face? Well, stand back imitators. Because the boys from Eel Pie Island are shoplifting the entire dairy counter. It's official. The Mystery Jets like Wet, Wet, Wet and Roxette and this, their second album, and the first without Henry Harrison, father of vocalist Blaine, is an utterly incongruous mish mash of rose water fresh prog epics and '80s pop so whiffy you might need smelling salts to bring you round by the end of the 49 minutes.
The whole album shows a band that is battling with a severe identity crisis. The solution, and perhaps not always the most sensible one, is seemingly to throw a plethora of musical bottles into the already rather murky canal water of post-Libertines discerning indie and see what manages to avoid hitting the semi-submerged supermarket trolley.
At times this makes for rather surreal, though tantalizingly marvelous listening. Two Doors Down is an utter anomaly coming across as an absolutely perfect pastiche of mid-'80s antipodean chart pop. Think along the lines of Live it Up by Mental as Anything played over the closing credits of Crocodile Dundee and you can almost hear the giant plastic earrings swing along to the synth pop and, cripes!, a sax solo and slap bass that wouldn't be out of place on a Level 42 single. Sorry and all that, but I'm afraid that this actually sounds really fantastic.
Blaine Harrison seems to have a rather cumbersome habit of coming over all Brendon Flowers on the overly adolescent whinge-angst of closing track Behind The Bunhouse which goes utterly overboard on the faux-elegiac histrionics. But these boys are still young. And without Dad to drive the car, they're proving with this album that, though the Pink Floyd fascination that dominated their debut album may have been replaced by even more dubious influences, there's still more of a hint of melody involved in an album of slow but rewarding fruition. --Robert Crossan
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Guardian, May 2008
"This is a vividly youthful album, packed with acid-sharp lyrics and neon-bold choruses, playful vocal harmonies and strikingly confident pop sounds. Henry, the boys have done you proud." ****
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Cure, Tears For Fears, The Cars, Duran Duran...if there's one thing this album is guaranteed to do it's to remind you of the 1980's.
Recent single Two Doors Down was one of those classic divisive pop hits. Some would appreciate it for what it is (a catchy pop hit) whilst others would probably be unable to look past the obvious 80's sound (complete with gratuitous sax solo) that it undoubtedly represents. Those of you who land in the "hate" category for this one might as well steer clear of MJ, which almost transcends into parody.
Lead single, Young Love, was, on the other hand, criminally overlooked by most, but is one of the better songs on the album. Laura Marling pops in to lend a hand and whilst it may be very much one of those "boy meets girl" style songs, it's one of the better examples of that mini-genre. It's got feeling, which is rare in a modern day pop song and, like the other standout tracks on the album such as Half In Love With Elizabeth and Veiled In Grey, it is completely devoid of cliche.
It's not a trick that they can completely keep up for the entire album and towards the end there is a definite lull. It's not to say that the lesser tracks are awful, but they are overshadowed by the brilliance on display elsewhere.
Still, a good album with a handful of excellent tracks is certainly worth the investment in my opinion.
Recent single Two Doors Down was one of those classic divisive pop hits. Some would appreciate it for what it is (a catchy pop hit) whilst others would probably be unable to look past the obvious 80's sound (complete with gratuitous sax solo) that it undoubtedly represents. Those of you who land in the "hate" category for this one might as well steer clear of MJ, which almost transcends into parody.
Lead single, Young Love, was, on the other hand, criminally overlooked by most, but is one of the better songs on the album. Laura Marling pops in to lend a hand and whilst it may be very much one of those "boy meets girl" style songs, it's one of the better examples of that mini-genre. It's got feeling, which is rare in a modern day pop song and, like the other standout tracks on the album such as Half In Love With Elizabeth and Veiled In Grey, it is completely devoid of cliche.
It's not a trick that they can completely keep up for the entire album and towards the end there is a definite lull. It's not to say that the lesser tracks are awful, but they are overshadowed by the brilliance on display elsewhere.
Still, a good album with a handful of excellent tracks is certainly worth the investment in my opinion.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I was given Twenty One and was blown away with what I thought was a debut from a new group. I should have realised that the production, confidence and just outstanding quality was too good for a debut album. Like KM I hear Talking Heads in this album which is high compliment indeed. But there is range of styles here which is just plain showing off as each track is a complete package. Standout tracks are Young Love, Half in Love, Two Doors down & Umbrellahead (can you hear Clap Your Hands here?). Surely MJ are about to really break into the big time (Zane is a fan) - they deserve to.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
They've tightened their sound and Blaine's voice has never sounded better - leading the band into wildly catchy tunes, feeling more like a complete album then their previous. Fans of their first will find this second effort greatly welcomed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great Second Album
Roughly 25 seconds into the first song 'Hideaway', a bassline comes in, a sexy funky bassline that cuts through the police sirens that start off the song. Read more
Published 2 months ago by MaxRocks
Great album
I absolutely love this album, I did own a copy of this before I ordered it and was happy to promptly receive a second hand copy in excellent condition. Read more
Published 7 months ago by V. Dawe
Fantastic
This album is highly catchy and the more you hear it the more you get into it, I certainly can't stop playing it in my car. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2009 by R. Peacock
Lets try this now....
Potential....a word written about various England sportsman..a gloriously English way to bury young talent...enough about sport....this is the Mystery Jets review!!! Read more
Published on 30 July 2008 by DOGG
I love this album, but...
It REALLY annoys the faeces out of me when bands re-release ablums with a new song and a snazzier cover. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2008 by Medea
Mystery Jets - Twenty One
I rushed out to buy this album after hearing and loving the excellent single "Two Doors Down" and the rest of the album is equally brilliant. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2008 by KM
Great and getting better!
Making Dens was a distinctive sound amongst so many me-too's and for that reason grabbed my attention and interest. Read more
Published on 8 April 2008 by Ross Clark
Twenty One
After hearing the recent single 'Young Love' and being aware of past material and various music videos on mtv2, i felt this album was a must buy. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2008 by Ste Star
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