A career in a rock and roll band can follow many varied paths, but stereotypically it usually consists of learning to play, forming a group, learning to play together, writing, honing the songs and releasing singles, followed by albums and subsequently touring. The problems then arise, usually attributed to record company pressure, stress, and emotional overload to follow up the initial release and produce a second album that will preferably demonstrate an improvement or an inspired artistic progression. In truth what usually happens is that by this time the band have run out of fresh ideas and inspiration that results in most band’s first album being their artistic peak immediately followed by a rapid downward spiral. Atypically we have bands that grow, propagate and develop, and only reach some kind of artistic flowering by their third album, examples of which are The Clash with London Calling, Radiohead with O.K. Computer and Primal Scream with Screamadelica. To this we can add Unravelling (QRO review), the third album by We Were Promised Jetpacks, who formed in 2003 in Edinburgh before relocating to Glasgow. The first album These Four Walls (QRO review) was patchy, oscillating between their brilliant first single “Quiet Little Voices” (which is seemingly turning into their “Creep” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit”) with its strident catchiness, and the slower more tedious tracks such as “Roll Up Your Sleeves”. With the second album In the Pit of the Stomach (QRO review), the focus swung to a more aggressive and dirtier sound with only the last track “Pear Tree” really attaining the bombastic heights that they were aiming for.
The appearance at the Bodega Nottingham on Sunday, the 15th March, was the last date of the tour to promote the album in question. They opened with the first song from the new album “Safety In Numbers”, which immediately highlighted the discernible shift in the quality of song writing compared to the earlier material. “I Keep It Composed” soon followed, which demonstrated the band moving away from the Twilight Sad comparisons into a more standard hard rock approach with a similar dynamic to The Smashing Pumpkins and again in “Peaks and Troughs”, as the energy and vehemence emanating from the stage took flight. “Quiet Little Voices” was welcomed as a familiar friend with appreciation and broad smiles from the lively crowd, and the set was concluded with a blistering assault on the opening piece from the first album “Thunder and Lightning”. It remains to be seen whether the release of Unravelling will give the band the kudos and respect that the aforementioned trio of third albums bought those particular artists, but on that performance it damn well should.
