Remember watching ‘Back To The Future II’ when you were a kid and thinking that hoverboards were going to make an appearance at some point in the next ten years? Anyone? Well, maybe it was just me and my imagination running wild courtesy of a Kool Aid fueled sugar high, don’t judge.  The only reason I bring it up is because my current band of the week apparently shares my longing for futuristic playthings that have somehow eluded the clutches of mass production. Following closely in the footsteps of The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit, the aptly named We Were Promised Jetpacks have been occupying the airwaves at the Train Station and helping me pass the hours in my cubicle wasteland lately.  The four piece, hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, were discovered when someone at FriRabb’s (I don’t think anyone calls them that) label listened to some of the Myspace friends of the Rabbits.  Kinda makes me wish I had friended Frightened Rabbit and uploaded some of my own recordings to my profile - though I’m not sure how big of a market there is for interpretive poetry delivered in a fake Indian accent, I could be wrong though.

Back to the Jetpacks.  Their debut album, These Four Walls, was released in the States about a week ago via Fat Cat Records, and came out across the pond a little over a month ago.  Though comparisons to their labelmates are inevitable (they’re both from Scotland!), I hear more Glasvegas in there than anything else.  The album sounds big, in an anthemic-pub-rock kind of way, and the accents are inescapable, but that’s part of the charm of the Jetpacks. Sure, singer Adam Thompson likes to repeat lyrics a smidgen, but I like to think that he’s just making things easier for that guy at the show who’s had a few too many brewrockets and can’t quite remember all the lines.  But it’s not all balls-out-cacophonous-lad-rock the Jetpacks are bringing to the table - in fact there are a couple of songs on there that would be a welcome addition to that mixtape you’re making for the summer crush (you know who you are).  All this talk though, and not enough songs (We Were Promised Jams dammit!) so take a listen below. We Were Promised Jetpacks: Train tested. Muffin approved.

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices

We Were Promised JetPacks - It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning

Frightened Rabbits - The Twist

Buy These Four Walls at Amazon, or wherever good music is sold!