Drawing obvious comparisons with the likes of Biffy Clyro and Idlewild, Scottish noisemakers ‘We Were Promised Jetpacks’ will have to work a harder than usual to get noticed.
Luckily, they’ve done just that, and These Four Walls is a very impressive debut. Energetic, intricate music married with intelligent lyrics and soaring chorus’, WWPJ are surely on to a winner. ‘It’s Thunder And Lightning’ is a stunning opener, giving a taste of what to expect from the rest of the album, and is followed by the brilliantly monikered ‘Ships With Holes Will Sink’, a powerfully catchy number fired along by it’s steady drumbeat.
The quality is evident, along with an energy that keeps the music compelling throughout. Every song here is catchy in it’s own way, and the album as a whole manages to escape the trap of repetition. It’s a brilliantly paced album, with lulls in all the right places (see ‘Conductor’, one of the slower highlights), and the lyrics, whilst not exceptional on their own, are given a certain warmth by the vocals.
I sound like I’m gushing here, but it’s mostly warrented. The only real low-point is the largely pointless ‘The Half Built House’, but every band can be forgiven a few small experimental distractions. Especially one followed by the beautiful ‘This Is My House, This Is My Home’, with it’s delicate guitar work, hushed vocals and overpowering bass line, building into a crescedo of noise.
Album highlight, for me at least, comes courtesy of ‘Short Bursts’. I’m a sucker for hyperactive drum intros, and snarling riffs, and this combines the two well with soaring vocals and a strong energy; it sounds like it’d be great live.
It’s a great album, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. There’s been a slew of great British bands coming our way recently, and ‘We Were Promised Jetpacks’ only add to that list. Let’s hope there’s much more to come, too.
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One Comment
I want this album just because of the awesome name, good to know they’re good enough to justify it