Steve 'Flash' JuonI suspect that The Jet Age of Tomorrow is on an extended hiatus given their last studio album came out four years ago. It’s even possible that they permanently disbanded. The group wasn’t necessarily built for longevity anyway. Like a lot of Odd Future spinoff projects, Jet Age (and this is by their own admission) came from ideas turned down by Tyler, the Creator that wouldn’t fit on his own albums. Ponder for a moment what it takes to be too abstract or weird to NOT fit on a Tyler Okonma album. It happens though and it led to Matt Martians and Hal Williams a/k/a Pyramid Vritra doing their own thing.
“Jellyfish Mentality” was released for free and is widely available on Soundcloud, YouTube, DatPiff, et cetera as a result. If physical copies were pressed up it was probably in limited quantities for hardcore fans with Golf Wang tattoos. That’s the benefit of being an Odd Future or Tyler, the Creator spinoff — you’ve got a built in devoted fan base that is also open to some weird and experimental shit. This also results in some mediocre music masquerading as “weird and experimental” when it’s actually “bad and boring.” It doesn’t hurt “Jellyfish Mentality” though that it has a slew of guest rappers like Mac Miller (R.I.P.) and Earl Sweatshirt to enhance it.
In fact given the number of Odd Future family appearing on this release, it feels more like an official part of their catalogue than a forgotten branch of the family tree. I especially appreciate the oft-forgotten Mike G’s raps on “Asia.” The wavering melody and rolling clave sounds qualify as “weird” in a GOOD WAY, and G’s smooth flow ties all of it together perfectly. If this was on an Odd Future mixtape it would have been entirely natural there.
The same goes for “Wonderful World” with Domo Genesis & Vince Staples.
The instrumental only tracks like “Telephones” are on point too.
I have at times been skeptical of Matt Martians and Hal Williams indulging too many flights of fancy and not reigning in their creative impulses. At times they write music like Vince Russo books wrestling — come up with a thousand insane ideas and just by sheer force of volume ONE OF THEM is going to work. It’s ironic then that “Jellyfish Mentality” was the one they opted not to release physically or commercially given that on this album they actually reigned it in, got focused, and released a structured Odd Future project well balanced between instrumentals and collaborations.