Great Moments In Pop – The 2000s Part 2.

I haven’t ever really been that interested in indie bands, although I appreciate that there is a market for them, and there used to be plenty on the singles chart among all the other genres, but they are virtually extinct now. This is a group that only had a mid-table level of success, never having a Top 20 hit single, but although they never grabbed many headlines, they changed their musical direction somewhat and went and did something that rather surprised me and caught my attention.

The frontman of Mystery Jets is Blaine Harrison, and also among the line-up was his dad Henry (I don’t know how many other bands feature two generations of the same family). They had their first Top 40 hit single in 2005, but in June 2008 they released “Two Doors Down” (not to be confused with the sitcom from a few years ago), and the reason this one I liked this one was because this had something of an 80s style.

The video did as well, with some great fashion on display, and a lot of emotion. I did wonder if this was a something of a mickey take of the sound and style of the time, but it seems that this is just about on the side of being an affectionate tribute. Plenty of critics were positive about this one too. I also remember this being one of the earliest videos that I watched on YouTube several times because I liked it that much.

“Two Doors Down” reached no. 24, and was also a track on their second of six albums “Twenty-One” that just missed the Top 40. It would’ve been great if this was their biggest hit, but that was “The Boy Who Ran Away” in 2006, which went one place better, at no. 23. I would have to say that this is probably my favourite song that sounds like the 80s that wasn’t actually made in the 80s if that makes sense. And how is this over a decade old now in itself?!

All these years on Mystery Jets are still going, and they have released many more singles and albums, although they haven’t had any more hits since “Two Doors Down”, maybe they realised that there was no way that they could ever top this. And I suppose I am relived that this was released just before all the indie bands vanished from the singles chart. Where are they now.