Magritte Records (MR 245)
Jet Jaguar was a cool space rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and they first were active from 2001 to 2011. I used to get review copies of their CD releases back then and loved their stuff that was a hybrid of spacey Hawkwind and cybernetic industrial post punk of Chrome. There was also a double LP/CD Space Anthem on Black Widow Records in 2007 that I really love. This one was mostly recorded live on the group's 2005 Solar Anthem tour but also included some covers recorded in studio. The band later resurfaced with a different crew apart from the commander Charles Van De Kree (guitars, vocals, synths, electronics) and released one more CD, Mysteries of Antimatter in 2015.
This compilation puts together some of the band's best tracks along with a couple of great cover songs. The straight-forward rocker "Dogfight" is maybe more or less a copy of Robert Calvert's "Ejection" but so what? Space rockers get what they need! A super-charged opener. "Autopilot" starts off with a spacey sequencer/vocoder intro and then rocks out in Chrome style. Loving it! In similar vein, "She's an Alien" was always one of the band's stand-out tracks and still sounds cool and exciting. More 90's Hawkwind-styled "I.C.U." is wonderful too like the A side's final, slower piece "Shades of Noir Descending". All tracks on side A were first released in 2002.
On the flip side we have two tracks from the 2004's album Billion Year Spree: the mercilessly rocking "Future Martyr on Supersonic Waves" and the classic "The Last Kings of Space". Next comes an excellent cover of Hawkwind's single track "Lord of Light" and I'm in ecstasy! This was originaly released on Black Widow Record's Daze öf the Undergröund, Tribute to Hawkwind. Also my old band Dark Sun was featured on the Chrome tribute You've Been Duplicated, Burning Chrome To Disc In The Cyberage and that's where the Jet Jaguar's ultra-fast version of "The Need" originates from. This whole tribute was put together by Charles, if I remember correctly (it was twenty years ago...). One more original to finish the album: "Count Geiger's Blues" from "Future Tense". This was strangely the only track I did not remember but it's a really good mid-tempo rocker bringing to mind Farflung and Pressurehed. Phew! What an amazing collection of spacey and cyper punky hits, I just have to start dreaming about the Part 2 right now!
jetjaguarmissioncontrol.bandcamp.com/album/brain-stun-the-collection-part-1
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