Review: We Were Promised Jetpacks - In the Pit of the Stomach

 It's been a while since I was able to find any decent brand spanking new music. Seriously, I've been so in the mood to find something good by a fresh faced band that I've never heard of until the moment their music blasts into my ears. Finally I've found it in the form of Edinburgh's We Were Promised Jetpacks, whose second release In the Pit of the Stomach is a treat for sore ears.

 Their sound is a delightful selection of chilled out indie rock, which isn't afraid to get a little grungey and a little shoegaze inspired, best seen in the slabs of rhythmic distortion that make up much of Through the Dirt and the Gravel, which also knows how to use electronic and classical instruments for added effect in their songs, which you will hear in the dreamy yet melancholic Act on Impulse. The result is a dramatic, gripping and skillfully crafted set of hard hitting alternative rock songs.
 The execution of the music characterizes this perfectly, wether it wishes to do so in a fast and heavy style, like in Boy In the Backseat as Adam Thompson and Michael Palmer fling out grungey riffs in a rush of indie fueled energy, or in the bleaker dwindling bassline from Sean Smith that is the driving force in Sore Thumb, all are effective in creating a sound that manages to be so atmospheric and soundscaping, but still decent to headbang to at the same time, with the groups dealings of sweeping hooks and the tranquil vocals of Thompson, which in spite of their calmness still remain the engaging centerpiece even in the harder moments. His broad Edinburgh accent is also effective in capturing a characteristic sense of tragedy and despair, which makes up a fair amount of WWPJ's lyrics.
 So for an album that was essentially stumbled upon in looking for any decent new music, In the Pit of the Stomach is a really awesome display of Scottish hard indie rock, the kind of rock genre that we as a nation seem to be best at producing in this day and age. An engaging album that can manages to find a sense of beauty and grace within it's hard and noise-rock inspired walls of guitar distortion, We Were Promised Jetpacks are showing an effortless display of what modern Scottish rock does best.

 We Were Promised Jetpacks' In the Pit of the Stomach is out now via Fat Cat Records. The band will tour the UK in December.