We Were Promised Jetpacks

Fly you to the moon

Back in the 1960s, the world was treated to a vision of the future, a helmeted man whizzing round the skies of Disneyland with a tinfoil flying device strapped to his back – which was supposed to be a jetpack. “I believe in our lifetime we will see jetpacks used in commuter service between office and home, in the police department and individual family life,” said Robert May, the developer of the Rocket Belt jetpack. However, over 40 years later and we’ve still got our face squashed against the glass on the Tube and some police are still on horseback.

Glaswegian quartet, We Were Promised Jetpacks (although all only born in 1987) bemoan the false promises of science shows like Tomorrow’s World – the very people who told us CDs were indestructible. The as-yet-unsigned band, comprised of school friends Adam Thompson (vocals, guitar), Michael Palmer (guitar), Sean Smith (bass), and Darren Lackie (drums) originated in Edinburgh. The group – who describe themselves as “older than Leon Jackson” but “younger than Leona Lewis” – performed their first ever gig at Craigmount High with a cover of Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl?’. We get promised jetpacks and all we get is Jet. The world is so cruel.

So what do they sound like, you say? Well they namecheck Bloc Party, Biffy Clyro, We Are Scientists, and The Strokes; and to be fair the influences are apparent. It’s all a little bit ramshackle in places and, at times, sounds like standard Student Union fodder; but when it doesn’t, its jangly exuberance really holds its own. The 2007 self-released, self-titled EP contains some fairly raw gems. ‘Quiet Little Voices’ and ‘Moving Clocks Run Slow’ scratch out a frenetic pace and energy – as if they were being driven on the very hydrogen peroxide that propelled those Sixties space cadets. Plus – and this is an important ‘plus’ – they really do have one of the best band names we’ve heard in ages.

WWPJ will take to the Your Soul Bandstand at the Hydro Connect festival on 29th-31st August, alongside Attic Lights and Broken Records. In the meantime strap a bottle of fizzy pop to your back and fill it with Mentos. This is about as close as we are going to get to our shiny jetpack utopia.

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That 60s Jetpack Guy