The Mystery Jets - "Flotsam and Jetsam"(679 Recordings, 2006)

If you're a fan of the Violent Femmes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or, to a lesser extent, bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, you might find something to enjoy about Flotsam and Jetsam, the debut EP from experimental UK rockers The Mystery Jets ... if you have the patience to sort out what the band's trying to do, since every song sounds as though it's been recorded by a different band for a different album. From the opening moments of "You Can't Fool Me, Dennis!" which introduces its sound with a catchy, yet off-kilter alt-pop number, it's clear this isn't your everday UK "let's cash in on Oasis's sound" outfit. But the band's sound is overly eclectic for such an EP to develop a cohesive hook. "Zoo Time" sounds like an extended jazz rock jam session, which isn't a terrible thing in itself. But "Lizzie's Lion" leads the band into indie lo-fi territory, with indecipherable vocals, off-kilter percussion and fuzzy keyboards that drown any chance for the song to latch on. And though this sounds like a solid live recording, we're halfway through the EP and I still can't tell where the band's going with Flotsam and Jetsam. As the rest of the EP equally fails to grab my attention, I expect The Mystery Jets will burn out in America too quickly for anyone to seriously miss them, or notice they released an EP in the first place.