JET

Jet is a rock band from Melbourne, Australia, whose debut album Get Born, released in 2003, has so far sold over four million copies throughout the world. The band is influenced by groups such as AC/DC, Queen, The Beatles, Sweet, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Easybeats, The Faces, and The Kink

History

Brothers Nic Cester and Chris Cester grew up in Dingley Village, Victoria listening to classic rock from the 1960s and 1970s such as The Who, AC/DC, The Easybeats, The Faces, The Loved Ones and particularly The Rolling Stones and The Beatles; these were their father's records.
They decided to form a band with Cameron Muncey, Nic's friend from school and with whom he had been in a band, and with bassist Doug Armstrong whom Nic and Chris met whilst working together at their Dad's spice factory.

During 2001 an old high school friend of Chris' joined the band on keyboard, and it was at this time that the band took their current name from the song "Jet" from Wings' 1973 album Band on the Run. "Radio Song", from their album Get Born, was written about the troubles that the band had getting recognition at this time.

The new band met Mark Wilson one night in 2002 at a concert and, despite already having a bass player, asked him to play with them. Wilson was then the bassist in a band called The Ca$inos, so he initially declined. However, a few days later he called the band and said he would like to join them instead.

In 2002 the band, consisting of its current members, released the Dirty Sweet EP, which drew its name from the T. Rex song "Get It On". While the band only pressed 1,000 copies, there was such a demand that they pressed 1,000 more. The timing of this record coincided with the breakthrough of The Vines, meaning that international interest in Australian rock bands was high. NME obtained a copy of the single from Dirty Sweet, "Take It or Leave It", and praised it. Elektra Records offered the band a contract and re-released Dirty Sweet in 2003.

Get Born

Jet entered the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with Dave Sardy to produce their debut album Get Born. Sardy had previously produced records for Marilyn Manson and The Dandy Warhols. They also enlisted the services of keyboard maestro Billy Preston for two of the songs. The album derived its name from a line in the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" from Bringing It All Back Home. Halfway through recording, the band received a call from The Rolling Stones offering them a support slot on the Australian leg of their 2003 tour.

Their singles "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Rollover DJ" were voted number one and number nineteen respectively on the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100. "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" appeared on the soundtracks for the game Madden NFL 2004 and the 2006 animated film Flushed Away. It was also part of two major worldwide advertising campaigns for Apple's iPod and Vodafone. Get Born also includes the song "Timothy", dedicated to vocalist/guitarist Cameron Muncey's brother, who died before he was born. Due to the sensitive nature of the song, the band rarely plays "Timothy" live.

In early 2004, Jet teamed up with The Vines and The Living End on "the Aussie invasion" tour of US cities. A new Jet song not included on Get Born, called "Hold On", was featured on the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack that year. TV/film producer J.J. Abrams - whose credits include Lost and Felicity - contacted Jet to record a song for the Season 4 premiere to his show Alias. "Cold Hard Bitch" from Get Born was used, and became the soundtrack to a frenetic scene of two CIA agents sprinting down a Hong Kong street, giving Jet further US exposure.

Later the same year, the band was nominated in seven categories at the ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) music awards. These included single and album of the year. At the awards ceremony on the 17 October 2004 Jet received six awards out of the seven nominations. Nic Cester also performed as part of supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of other Australian rock bands Spiderbait (Kram, drums), The Living End (Chris Cheney, guitar), Dallas Crane (Pat Bourke, bass) and You Am I/The Pictures (Davey Lane, guitar).

The album was criticised for being derivative of many classic rock artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and AC/DC. [1] There were also claims that these bands not only influenced the album, but riffs and melodies from individual songs by other artists made their way onto songs from Get Born. These included Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" ("Come Around Again"), The Beatles' "Sexy Sadie", "Let It Be", "Golden Slumbers", "Fool on the Hill", John Lennon's "Imagine" ("Look What You've Done"), Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" ("Are You Gonna Be My Girl?"), Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" ("Rollover D.J.") and Deep Purple's "Woman from Tokyo" ("Cold Hard Bitch").[citation needed]

However, in an All Music Guide review of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?", the song was praised for its immediate appeal despite its resemblance to "Lust for Life", saying "Whether 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl?' is creatively bankrupt, or just an extreme example of how all music is influenced by what came before it, is up for debate... Either way, for some people the song is impossible to ignore."

Shine On

The debut single from the band's second album Shine On, titled "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", was released to radio on August 7, 2006. Shine On was released on September 30, 2006 (October 2 in the UK, October 3 in the US) with a final track listing of 15 songs. It debuted at #3 on the Australian charts but failed to match the success of Get Born. Critical reaction to the album was mixed; British music magazine NME, for instance, called the record "another joyfully old-fashioned rock'n'roll album immersed in the classics," while the American review site Pitchfork Media posted a totally anomalous review containing only a video clip of a chimpanzee urinating in its own mouth.Rolling Stone said that the album sounded too much like Oasis while also praising songs such as "Eleanor" and "Stand Up". The song also appeared on NME's compilation CD, NME: The Essential Bands - Festival Edition.

Jet played at the MTV Europe Awards in Copenhagen. It was their first live performance since Nic Cester's laryngitis halted their World Tour. In November 2006 they flew back to Australia to perform at the Make Poverty History Concert in Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, upon their return they also held a secret show on a barge floating on the Yarra River. The second singles from the album, "Bring It on Back" (in the UK) and "Rip It Up" (in Australia) were released in November 2006. The album also spawned an EP, the Shine On EP released December 2006.

The title track, "Shine On", was released on various dates in March 2007 around the world as the third single (second single in some countries). The song is a tribute to Nic and Chris' father, who died from cancer in 2004. It was written by Nic Cester from the perspective of his father encouraging those who survive him to "shine on." Many songs on the album ("Come On Come On," "Bring It on Back," "Stand Up," "Holiday," "All You Have to Do") are primarily about overcoming adversity and challenge. The album also features some of the first love songs ("Skin and Bones," "Eleanor") the band has included on their major album releases. These songs indicate a growth in Jet's lyrical style and a growth in their portrayal of women in their songs.

Jet headlined a series of shows during the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand, with opening acts Tool, Muse, The Killers, and My Chemical Romance. The band played their Rip It Up Oz tour in late May and June 2007, which was supported by Channel V. Also in 2007, they released a new song for the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack titled "Falling Star". Their song "Rip It Up" appeared on the TMNT soundtrack.

The band returned to Australia to perform at the AFL Grand Final and to finish the rest of their world tour. They announced on their website that they would begin production on their third studio album, due for a 2008 release. However in October 2007 the band announced they would take "time off" for an unspecified amount of time. They stated that after touring for Shine On they needed some "down time".. As of October 24 Chris and Mark produced a song, under the name "The Vice Lords" for the Japanese duo Superfly titled "I Spy I Spy".

Third album

Jet are currently confirmed as working on their third album, writing new material with a release set for the end of 2008 or early 2009.