Other than having its tunes played ubiquitously on the radio, this is how a world-renowned Australian rock band knows it’s made it big in the U.S.: walking off the bus, seeing a nice concert venue and taking in the sights — at this moment, a junkyard and stray cats.
Not the Brian Setzer 1980s rockabilly group. Actual cats.
“There’s all these cats everywhere,” Jet bass player Mark Wilson says, with a mix of amusement and wonder. “There’s these five cats, and they don’t look so stray — they just look interested in what’s going on.
“I’m sure there’s beautiful parts of New Jersey but I don’t think this is one of them.”
Appearing Sunday at the 9:30 Club and featuring the brothers Cester, frontman Nic and guitarist drummer Chris, Jet made waves in this country and globally with the 2003 debut “Get Born,” which spawned the good-time radio smash “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” won them critical raves and threw them into a rock-filled frenzy.
“When you’re in the eye of the storm, it seems calm — everything around us was crazy but we were just playing shows and stuff,” Wilson says. “The shows kept getting bigger and more demand for us. When you stopped, you sort of go, ‘Whoa, what have I been doing?’ ”
In the midst of the good times, there were drug and alcohol issues and tragedy when the Cesters’ father passed during the recording of the Melbourne band’s follow-up, “Shine On” (Atlantic Records).
The new songs take a lot sonically from the Beatles and lyrically have a bit more of an emotional underpinning to them than the band’s debut, the bassist says.
“The first album was like a naive rock ’n’ roll record — a live set basically captured on tape. This one, there’s still party tunes on it, I suppose,” Wilson says. “They’re not really the deepest sort of songs, but there’s definitely songs on there that are more three-dimensional with the lyrics and the feel.”
Nic Cester wrote the touching and glorious title ballad as a tribute to his father, and it also happens to be the second single — a definite departure from the happy-go-lucky “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.”
The other deep tune, the waltzy “Kings Horses” is an autobiographical ode to the dark places the band members existed in between records.
“It’s about experiencing the best moments in your life and the worst moments in your life at the same time, and that juxtaposition,” he says.
During the hard times, Wilson says he found himself looking out more for his mates than himself.
“It was pretty dire for a while. To have such crazy success on the first record and then have such a horrible thing happen to two members of band … it was a very tough time where I was thinking was it ever gonna happen and Nic and Chris not getting along.”
The key to breaking the apprehension? Just writing some good material instead of talking about it.
“You realize that this is pretty much the only thing you’re good at it,” Wilson concludes. “When you’re talking about it, it’s harder, but when you get in there and start realizing it’s good, all the [other stuff] goes out the window.”
Jet
Jet appears with the Blue Van on Sunday (doors open at 7:30 p.m.).
Venue: 9:30 Club, 850 V St. NW, Washington
Tickets: $25
More info: 202-265-0930
