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Avg: 4.0 (1083 ratings)
- Date Released: July 7, 2009
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Fat Cat Records / IODA
Wide-eyed, heart-on-sleeve poetics meet powerhouse post-punk
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We Say...
Brooding, stormy and bittersweet — the first few bars of "It's Thunder and It's Lightening" sum up, in a series of melancholy chords, exactly what We Were Promised Jetpacks are all about. The Scottish four-piece deals in ardent post-punk, blurring the instrumental aggression of label-mates Frightened Rabbit and the Twilight Sad with the sort of soul-baring poetics that could make Bright Eyes blush.
In any other band, that blend might seem impossible; so much vulnerability and violence simply couldn't fit into 16 tracks. But for Jetpacks, at least, the marriage of wide-eyed, heart-on-sleeve lyrics and powerhouse instrumentation seems like a natural matter of course. Adam Thompson's yearning brogue alternately soars and grovels over subjects typically left to emo bands, murmuring about curfews and damning failed relationships in nearly the same breath. Meanwhile, drummer Darren Lackie pounds out a series of concussive tattoos and skittering cymbal taps as waves of echoing, ominous guitar sluice together in the foreground.
Jetpacks' tempos are as varied as heartbreak itself, and both elegies and anthems find good homes on this debut. But the band’s strongest moments are not the gently strummed hues of "Conductor" or the mumbled medieval narratives of "An Almighty Thud." Rather, it’s when Jetpacks pair their saddest, sorriest pathos with their strongest post-punk blows — as on the voice-cracking "Roll Up Your Sleeves," or the ascendant "Keeping Warm" — that These Four Walls really starts to lift off. -
They Say...
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.
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| 01. |  |
It's Thunder And It's Lightning |
4:48 |
|
| 02. | |
Ships With Holes Will Sink |
3:22 |
|
| 03. | |
Roll Up Your Sleeves |
4:16 |
|
| 04. | |
Conductor |
5:28 |
|
| 05. | |
A Half Built House |
2:41 |
|
| 06. | |
This Is My House, This Is My Home |
3:17 |
|
| 07. | |
Quiet Little Voices |
4:21 |
|
| 08. | |
Moving Clocks Run Slow |
4:56 |
|
| 09. | |
Short Bursts |
4:40 |
|
| 10. | |
Keeping Warm |
8:12 |
|
| 11. | |
An Almighty Thud |
3:34 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 49:35 Total Length
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Credits
- Alan Douches - Mastering // Alan Douches - Mixing // Ken Thomas - Producer // Ken Thomas - Engineer // Ken Thomas - Mixing // Peter Katis - Producer // Peter Katis - Engineer // Peter Katis - Mixing // Peter Katis - Instrumentation // Greg Giorgio - Mixing
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