We Were Promised Jetpacks have a lot in common with their fellow Glaswegians Frightened Rabbit and the Twilight Sad: not only do they share a label, FatCat, but their takes on earnest Scottish indie bear more than a passing resemblance to each other. While all of these groups are fond of soaring choruses and feature singers with endearingly thick burrs, We Were Promised Jetpacks distinguish themselves from their labelmates on These Four Walls. A little rawer than Frightened Rabbit and a little more streamlined than the Twilight Sad, WWPJ manage to be brooding but not mopey as they contrast post-punk urgency with indie pop melodicism. At their best, We Were Promised Jetpacks find inventive ways of making fast tempos and sprightly melodies sound more than a little sad, especially on the singles "Quiet Little Voices" and "Roll Up Your Sleeves," which boasts the oddly romantic line "I can wait till summer/When you're warmer." At times, WWPJ do give into their dour side too much, and while there's no denying that their dynamic shifts and all-or-nothing climaxes pack a punch, songs such as "This Is My House, This Is My Home" and "It's Thunder and It's Lightning" get repetitive. Fortunately, as These Four Walls unfolds, WWPJ show that they can do more than just anthemic angst. "Moving Clocks Run Slow"'s sparkling guitars sound downright impatient with joy, while the album's most epic track, "Keeping Warm," is an eight-minute meditation on how precious life is. They're also adept at seeking out life's uncomfortable but real moments with lyrics like "Your silence is bearable/But only in short bursts" and "I whispered out my greatest fears to anyone who would hear me" on the acoustic closer, "An Almighty Thud." These Four Walls' best moments suggest We Were Promised Jetpacks can continue to stake out their own territory among their Glasgow peers.
We Were Promised Jetpacks find the patterns in static and draw out the soothing comfort of repetition. Brooding through the storm and the stress, each subtle shift in inflection adds another layer of meaning as centuries of sediment coalesce into four minutes. This is pop music. This is pop music.Reminds us of: a Konica Minolta Bizhub Di3510 | New Day Rising | Frank Black’s spastic energyWe We.
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It starts out with a simple guitar part, the same note alternating with two others. In comes this voice, a Scottish tenor, quiet and moody. He sings softly but roughly, his Northern dialect giving a slight edge to his lamentation. The best bits are the long, high vowels." 'Cos I'm just a conductor, a simple conductor/With e-lec-tri-cit-y just, pour-ing through me "Music Playlist at MixPod.com...
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I do apologize for the lack of posts during this past week. I really must apologize. But I fear I was busy scoring tickets to see the upcoming Sufjan Stevens mini tour (yes, I’ll be there in Bloomington to see him play), galavanting about the countryside for an all to brief weekend, and listening continuously to the latest album by my new Scottish obsession We Were Promised Jetpacks.I would
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I'm Young Again: Glasgow's best named new band We Were Promised Jet Packs (sorry Eeeonbeeon!) released their debut These Four Walls this past June and got a slight case of the bends from the sudden explosive growth and expectations that come with being a hot band in today's fast paced 5 hour energy Drink world: “When I was standing tuning my guitar in NewYork, the thought of ‘what the hell ar
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...a teacher telling students that education requires home work...but then getting mad at the teacher...(sigh)A new health care system is mandatory for the United States Of America. There are too many Americans that are suffering. Living habits are relying on treating the effect and not the cause of health issues, and that allows insurance companies to bank roll the pharmacy industry. More peop...
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Good timing can prove crucial when releasing a first album and Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks couldn’t have timed the release of their debut LP These Four Walls much better. In the post-breakthrough hiatus of Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, indie aficionados have been pining for another tartan-clad troupe upon which to pin their [...]
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We were promised great things from Scottish act We Were Promised Jetpacks including epic, emotional rock songs and whad'ya know? We got 'em.
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So far, I'm not burned out yet on earnest Scottish rock bands, though I feel like my limit can't be far off. Fortunately, We Were Promised Jetpacks is among the best of the country's recent imports, and their debut, These Four Walls, is a strong introduction to a band that looks to have a bright future. As has been mentioned around the web, 'Jetpacks' share much in common with labelmates Fright...
More >
If there are two things the mass-media love more than anything, they are one, being able to stir up rivalries and conflict where there are none and two, being able to categorise everything nicely. As such, the arrival of the "Scottish resurgence" will see the likes of Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks thrown together despite the fact that ...
More >
...a teacher telling students that education requires home work...but then getting mad at the teacher...(sigh)A new health care system is mandatory for the United States Of America. There are too many Americans that are suffering. Living habits are relying on treating the effect and not the cause of health issues, and that allows insurance companies to bank roll the pharmacy industry. More peop...
More >
We Were Promised Jetpacks find the patterns in static and draw out the soothing comfort of repetition. Brooding through the storm and the stress, each subtle shift in inflection adds another layer of meaning as centuries of sediment coalesce into four minutes. This is pop music. This is pop music.Reminds us of: a Konica Minolta Bizhub Di3510 | New Day Rising | Frank Black’s spastic energyWe We.
More >
Who: Arctic MonkeysTitle: HumbugRelease Date: August 25thLabel: Warner Bros.Thoughts: Humbug the third albums from the Arctic Monkeys is a record that's built on a lot of promise. Instead of continuing in their standard direction the Monkeys went out and hired Josh Homme to inject a little oomph and some much needed grit to the bands sound. They say they were inspired by some Black Sabbath albu...
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We were promised great things from Scottish act We Were Promised Jetpacks including epic, emotional rock songs and whad'ya know? We got 'em.
More >
It starts out with a simple guitar part, the same note alternating with two others. In comes this voice, a Scottish tenor, quiet and moody. He sings softly but roughly, his Northern dialect giving a slight edge to his lamentation. The best bits are the long, high vowels." 'Cos I'm just a conductor, a simple conductor/With e-lec-tri-cit-y just, pour-ing through me "Music Playlist at MixPod.com...
More >
So far, I'm not burned out yet on earnest Scottish rock bands, though I feel like my limit can't be far off. Fortunately, We Were Promised Jetpacks is among the best of the country's recent imports, and their debut, These Four Walls, is a strong introduction to a band that looks to have a bright future. As has been mentioned around the web, 'Jetpacks' share much in common with labelmates Fright...
More >
We Were Promised Jetpacks made what has become probably my favourite record of 2009 in “These Four Walls” (yes I know I should do a full review), and to finish the year they are releasing a double A-side “It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning”/ “Ships With Holes Will Sink” which are two of my favourites off [...]
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As Webcuts said in our review of, We Were Promised Jetpacks' debut These Four Walls --"...the single, “Quiet Little Voices” is the band’s sing-along rocker, a chorus-less anthem, catchy enough to appear in mainstream commercials or the next episode of your favorite television show."
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We Were Promised Jetpacks ‘These Four Walls’ has just been released, and the band have scheduled a quick tour in support of this.Tourdates:15 Jun - 5PM at HMV in Glasgow (Buchanan Street w/The Twilight Sad)15 Jun - King Tuts, Glasgow16 Jun - Night & Day, Manchester17 Jun - Bodega, Nottingham18 Jun [...]
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I'm Young Again: Glasgow's best named new band We Were Promised Jet Packs (sorry Eeeonbeeon!) released their debut These Four Walls this past June and got a slight case of the bends from the sudden explosive growth and expectations that come with being a hot band in today's fast paced 5 hour energy Drink world: “When I was standing tuning my guitar in NewYork, the thought of ‘what the hell ar
More >
Alternative Scottish collective We Were Promised Jetpacks have been on the lips of many in 2009 and finally, the bands debut record has been given a solid release date. The debut is titled These Four Walls and is due to hit shelves on June 15th over here in the UK and July 7th over in the US.
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If there are two things the mass-media love more than anything, they are one, being able to stir up rivalries and conflict where there are none and two, being able to categorise everything nicely. As such, the arrival of the "Scottish resurgence" will see the likes of Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks thrown together despite the fact that ...
More >
I do apologize for the lack of posts during this past week. I really must apologize. But I fear I was busy scoring tickets to see the upcoming Sufjan Stevens mini tour (yes, I’ll be there in Bloomington to see him play), galavanting about the countryside for an all to brief weekend, and listening continuously to the latest album by my new Scottish obsession We Were Promised Jetpacks.I would
More >
Good timing can prove crucial when releasing a first album and Edinburgh’s We Were Promised Jetpacks couldn’t have timed the release of their debut LP These Four Walls much better. In the post-breakthrough hiatus of Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, indie aficionados have been pining for another tartan-clad troupe upon which to pin their [...]
More >
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 "These Four Walls")
