Mystery Jets - Serotonin

Hailed for the past six years as one of the saviours of British indie, Twickenham boys-done-good The Mystery Jets have returned with an album that not only lives up to the gentle expectation preceding its release but should positively surpass any praise that’s likely to be heaped at its feet. The lads have come a long way since their days of jamming over on Eel Pie Island, and it’s a journey that’s seen them swapping rural delights for the bright lights and doomed relationships that pervade the eleven songs of Serotonin.
 
The ghostly, reverb-laden opening of ‘Alice Springs’ immediately signals the record as a step up both in maturity and musicianship for the four-piece. A blend of dreamy, sixties-style pop and overbearing distortion that recalls nineties grunge, it takes up more or less where 2008’s Twenty One left off, and sets the standard for what’s to come. ‘It’s Too Late’ follows, and while, musically speaking, it’s another marvellous four minutes of sun-drenched harmonies looped over gently strummed acoustic guitars, it also goes to show that the album is far from flawless, descending as it does into lyrical cliché – “You were the apple of my eye” isn’t exactly the most original lyric ever committed to record after all.
 
That being said, the vocals themselves are altogether more inspiring. Where most bands tend to adhere to having a single frontman (notable exceptions including, um, McFly), The Jets’ refreshing versatility is reflected in star turns from both Blaine Harrison and William Rees that, while staggeringly different in style, both manage to hold their own against the backing – from the former’s desperate, keening cries to the latter’s thoughtful reminiscences. Far from being a gimmick, this vocal interplay works a treat, while the addition of a second narrative helps the album to excel where others might have begun to wane. Among other moments of brilliance – the whimsical, hazy ‘Dreaming Of Another World’ being one, the whispered verses of the title track another – the album’s lead single ‘Flash A Hungry Smile’ is surely its master stroke, combining kazoos, whistles and ingenious lines such as the guaranteed-to-be-smile-inducing “The birds and bees have all got STDs”.
 
Perhaps disappointingly, Serotonin’s final flourish comes in the form of ‘Lorna Doone’, which is sadly lacking in the killer hooks and sing-along choruses of its predecessors. Replete instead with heavy, all-consuming reverb and understated, ascending synths, it nevertheless turns into a suitably epic five-and-a-half minutes on which to fade out. If their debut, Making Dens, saw a band who were trying to find their feet, and their second, Twenty One, veered just a bit too close to eighties pastiche for some, then Serotonin should, with any justice, become the record that secures Mystery Jets’ reputation as one of the finest young bands in the country. Boasting a subtle mix of joy and despair, vulnerability and confidence, it’s a record of perfectly crafted summertime fodder, and one that is sure to stay with you long after the season’s sunshine has faded.