Jet Lag Gemini
Posted by Laila Hanson on 23-May-08 @ 04:31 PM|
HQ: Bergen County, NJ NOW PLAYING: Fire The Cannons (DOGHOUSE; doghousrecords.com) WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: Melodies hooky enough to hang yer coat on, plus Jet Lag Gemini have guitar heroics-hello, solos-that'll inspire you to play a mean air guitar. Oh, and they're cute. YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: The Get Up Kids / the Almost / Jimmy Eat World STORY: Amy Sciarretto Drummer Dan DiLiberto is the only member of Jet Lag Gemini who's American-made: 22-year-old guitarist/vocalist Misha Safonov came to the U.S. from Russia when he was just 8, while guitarist Vlad Gheorghiu and his brother, bassist Matt, emigrated from Romania several years ago. Despite the Eastern European origin of the members, Jet Lag Gemini consider themselves a bonafide American rock band. "I'm definitely Americanized, as is everyone else in the band who wasn't born here, which is everyone but Dan," says Safonov, who admits he learned English as a young tyke by watching Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows. "I went back to Russia once, for half a year. I got into music because I didn't have any friends there. That's when I decided I wanted to play music as a career." Jet Lag Gemini appreciate fast and fun American rock 'n' roll on their debut full length, Fire The Cannons, but they don't wave the flag for their expatriate heritage, with Safonov saying, "I don't think the album-sonically or lyrically-has anything to do with us having been immigrants. You can't tell unless you know." After all, JLG formed in the most trial-by-fire fashion imaginable: The quartet knew each other through school and played their first show merely two weeks after their inception. While they had a few songs written, they were nascent and without lyrics, so the members winged the entire performance. "I was singing made up lyrics to every song, guessing it as I went along," Safonov recalls. "It was a mess. But we had so much fun regardless of what it sounded like, so we decided this definitely worked out as an entity." Jet Lag Gemini aren't winging-anymore, seeing they've honed and fine-tuned their live firepower by hitting the road with the Almost and Halifax and playing select Warped Tour dates. On Fire The Cannons, their sound is as loud and live as possible, with big drums and even bigger guitar solos melding together the band's love of classic and modern rock. Album opener "Run This City" boasts a thoroughly metallic guitar solo, while "The Bad Apples" is an ominously energetic romp Safonov sees as an anthem for the youth of today because "the kids have to learn to appreciate being young! Kids grow up way too fast nowadays in our ADD-culture. We grew up loving poppier stuff like the Beatles, Queen, and Blink 182, so that's why the vocal melodies are so pleasant," Safonov goes on to explain. "On the record, there is this constant battle between the guitars and drums, but the melodies of the vocals tie it all together." We couldn't agree more. ALT |
