Whether We Were Promised Jetpacks is a tongue-in-cheek joke about today’s generation or a genuine scream of frustration was hard to tell from the Edinburgh band’s Great Escape showcase.
There was certainly no hint of humour in their tight and committed performance, which was punctuated solely by frontman Adam Thompson’s closing statement, “We are a band from Edinburgh. This is our last song.”
The band were clearly road fit, with no awkward pauses between songs and a general heads-down, let’s-go attitude when it came to playing them.
Thompson’s vocalisations underline their Celtic roots – there was no attempt to assert any American phrasing in his deep, shouty bark of a voice, which on occasion turned into an impassioned scream.
Backing him was a menacing rumble of guitars, shot through with melodic hooks, and a brilliant drummer. There was an anthemic energy in songs such as opener Short Bursts and Human Error, although some of the energy was lost during an extended instrumental in the middle of the set.
Coalition was packed as the band took to the stage as part of FatCat Records’s Friday night showcase, although that may have been partly down to festivalgoers giving up on the long queue waiting to see Grimes at neighbouring Digital.
But the four-piece from Edinburgh certainly wouldn’t have disappointed, with fan favourite It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning providing a perfect closer to their set with its slow-build structure and explosive finish.
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