The Jet Age - What Did You Do During The War, Daddy?
Music is War
In a year of arguably one of our countries most important elections in the past half century, it’s always good to see an artist question authority. I’m not talking about a ‘fuck the system’ ego trip but instead the viewpoint of theoretical action. Enter in Eric Tischler and his trio of rock enthusiasts The Jet Age with their latest long player What Did You Do During The War Daddy?. Originally conceived as a (albeit far off) Broadway musical of sorts, During The War questions the responsibilities of citizens when their government is out of control. Even the album is broken down into three acts. Hokey? Yeah. But regardless of the fable, During the War is a fine rock album when it wants to be.
The album plays out just as its cock-and-bull story alludes; three separate acts dealing with your everyday affairs of love, government deception, and suicide bombing. Yes, this is not your standard pop-rock mindless chatter - Tischler has a point. Sure it’s a bit over-dramatic but shakes the core of rock back to when it was a political movement with attitude and substance. I’m talking the underlined messages of The Who mixed with enough Superchunk riffs to buy into the ears of most. It’s no classic, but it has heart. Look no further than second act ‘I Said, Alright’ for said-political spin wickedly helmed by savvy percussion ala Pete Nuwayser. The slapdash 4-track sounding recording actually benefits the garage noise of hammered drums and whaling guitars on the heavier hitting moments. Trailblazer ‘If I Had You Then I’d Still Want You Now’ is three minutes of punk-pop perfection only one upped by the furor of ‘Maybe Love’s a Transmission’. Eric Tischler laments with the best of them garnering comparisons to the likes of Oxford Collapse frontman Mike Pace in both wit and growl at times.
The more harmless moments like the introspective ‘Shake’ are less invigorating in part due to the band taking a back seat to Tischler’s shaky vox work. At other times a lot of During the War comes entirely too close to Sonic Youth-like catastrophes (for better or worse); moments where the guitar takes over and flatlines in the beautiful mess it causes. What the band lacks in control, their love in chaos more than makes up. The rumblings from each beat and circling strings are belligerently brilliant: so much so that it carries the albums lesser burdens thru to the end. It’s no Breathless - the bands inaugural release a few years back - but it’s a solid ride and an atypical note on how political rock should be done.
Sean Kendall
