Fire The Cannons

It's a hard task for a band to stand out from the crowd, especially when the crowd it's attempting to distinguish itself from is a generally homogeneous musical mess of youth-sized T-shirts, strained vocal melodies, and driving chord progressions. But sometimes, for whatever reason, doing things not so differently than everyone else just works. Case in point: Jet Lag Gemini. On Fire the Cannons, as with its summer 2006 EP, the New Jersey quartet nimbly stacks aggressive hooks one on top of the other, playing each song with infectious fervor and invigorating energy. They nod to classic rock here and pure pop there, always mixing their sharp riffing and singalong choruses with a devilish wink and genuine fun. The opener, "Run This City," shoots adrenaline directly into the proceedings, creating a tidal wave of power that tracks like "The Bad Apples," and later, "Fit to Be Tied," all capitalize on. There are some stabs at slower reflection (as with "Stepping Stone" and "Keep This with You"), and while fine efforts, it's pretty obvious that Jet Lag Gemini should stick with riling up the mosh pit with fierce melodies and stomping drumbeats instead. Jet Lag Gemini don't do anything too new or wholly original on their debut full-length, but what they are doing is delivered with such assured passion that they don't really need to.