Album Review: We Were Promised Jetpacks - 'In The Pit Of The Stomach'

3 November 2011 | 12:19 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Indie rock with a twist.

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It is exciting when bands tweak the sound of familiar genres to create something new, and We Were Promised Jetpacks are doing just that. The Scottish rock band are back with their second record ‘In The Pit Of The Stomach,’ the follow-up to 2009’s ‘These Four Walls.’

The band manage to give indie rock a harder edge, every now and then a section in a song will hit a moment of importance and a slew of aggression will pour forth. Things can just as quickly jump back to a dainty, light guitar, melody heavy sections, reminiscent of Kings Of Leon, in complete disregard for the explosions taking place before them.

The guitars that open first track Circles And Squares are big, and the energy levels are high as the song shifts into indie mode, frantic strumming backed by a cathartic beat, as the band try to combine as many rock elements into the one song as possible. Whilst their insistence to constantly change what is happening is a strength, some may consider it a downfall due to its execution. The record doesn't really have a flow, it is more a bunch of songs put together but this isn't really a big problem as the songs themselves are simply, very good.

Medicine is about as indie rock as things get, taking its cues from The Killers before the slow building Through The Dirt And The Gravel which will probably soon become a single thanks to its hooky melody lines. One of the highlights is the musically driven Hard To Remember during which the vocals take a backseat and allow the songs dynamics to tell the story. The album’s first single, Act On Impulse, is one of the softer songs on the record, that is until its ambient ending which constantly builds, a weird choice for a single considering some of the other hook heavy songs on the album.

Sore Thumb is another highlight thanks to its quick changes from low-fi simplicity to thunderous walls of sound that sneak up on you like a freaking ninja. The standard album ends with the groove heavy Pear Tree but being the lucky Australians that we are, we are privy to three bonus tracks, the first of which, Building Buildings, is a piano ballad that would have been perfectly placed anywhere on the actual record, and is not a track to be missed.

Whilst it is clear why the other two tracks didn't make the cut, purely due to their sound, not quality, they are exciting glimpses into what this group is capable of and quite different to everything else on the record.

We Were Promised Jetpacks make indie rock for people who usually wouldn't like indie rock. There are moments on this record that can be immensely heavy before changing to a melody driven, energetic verse, or beautiful ambient bridge, and whilst the flow of the album could be improved, this band seem to be embarking on something that could offer great things in the future.

1. Circles And Squares
2. Medicine
3. Through The Dirt And The Gravel
4. Act On Impulse
5. Hard To Remember
6. Picture of Health
7. Sore Thumb
8. Boy In the Backseat
9. Human Error
10. Pear Tree
11. Building Buildings
12. Build Me A Bridge
13. Ink Slowly Dries