These Four Walls

Today's Music of the Day is These Four Walls, by We Were Promised Jetpacks. This album was downloaded LEGALLY through Emusic after having read a promising review on the AV Club website.

While comparing bands is generally unfair to all involved, the elements at play here make it hard to ignore. WWPJ (which is probably an acronym for something bizarre) has a number of similarities to Frightened Rabbit: generally uptempo, accessible music, pained lyrics, a certain emotional raw quality, occasional ringing guitar, a couple gently picked ballads, and a singer who is too Scottish for his own good.

Having said that, this album is pretty great. It's rambunctious and fun, in a modern indie-rock sort of way, and manages to be emotional without whining. The music here is solid; the guitar isn't ever distracting, but soars and pushes the tempo in a number of places. It's a solid album, full of promise and heartbreak - I'll definitely see what else this band has out there, if anything at this point.

Personal favorite tracks are "It's Thunder And It's Lightning" and the eight-minute, sprawling "Keeping Warm". Really, though, there aren't weak tracks here - even the less-adored are quite listenable. By the time the album title finally shows up, it will make perfect sense why it was given such promotion.

In Short: a fine album, as enjoyable and poignant as anything I have heard in recent months.

In Other News:
See, I made it all the way through without complaining about the horrible, stupid band name. "We Were Promised Jetpacks" is petulant and tacky. What about something like "Death Panel" or "War President"?

Capoeira this weekend! Woohoo!

More music is forthcoming! Early thoughts on the Ingrid Michaelson album "Be OK" - it's, well, okay.