REVIEW: We Were Promised Jetpacks – ‘Safety in Numbers’

Photo by Eoin Corey

The newest track from We Were Promised Jetpacks plays it anything but safe. That’s right, those are synths and yes, it does sound like the dream sequence in an 80’s movie. Superb.

Edinburgh’s finest have enjoyed a reputation as being terrifically indie and a little bit inaccessible for some -the name might have something to do with that- but it hasn’t stopped them from building a steady fanbase thanks to their consistently unique sound. A whole three years after 2011’s excellent In the Pit of the Stomach, we finally have shiny new Jetpacks in the form of ‘Safety in Numbers‘.

Not too dissimilar to Keeping Warm from their first LP, These Four Walls,  and Act On Impulse from their 2011 effort, Safety is a slow-burner that beckons the listener along with each patient strum of the guitar and ascending strike of the drums. The poor drumkit of WWPJ has been on the receiving end of a right bashing over the years and it’s subject to similar abuse this time round as the phenomenal Darren Lackie flexes his muscles for the rousing crescendo.

Too many bands fail to make you feel anything these days. I doubt the band sits down at the writing table and think, “right lads, let’s make them get belly tingles” but it’s a rich tradition with almost every song I’ve heard of WWPJ’s and it certainly continues with this one. The feels are everywhere.

The high point of this track is impossible to resist; you will find your hairs standing on end and your eyes closing without you realising to soak it all in. A  formidable wall of sound it may be but it’s the best damn wall of sound I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in some time.

If there’s to be any criticism of the track, it’s that it seems to cut itself about 30 seconds too short. WWPJ are purveyors of fine post-punk/indie and their musicianship allows them to add meat to the bones of a song and to eke it out until it’s just right. At a couple of minutes shorter than you’d expect, the ring of the final note is almost a disappointing one, yet who’s to say that’s a bad thing. They leave you wanting more but refuse to do so, the tarts.

With the announcement of their third album, Unravelling, coming this Autumn, let’s hope that We Were Promised Jetpacks don’t just play it safe and actually receive the acclaim and recognition they so richly deserve this time round. Oh, and the comparisons the song has had to U2 and Coldplay is total spaff but you can make your own mind up below.