We Were Promised Jetpacks / Fatherson @ QMU, 13 December

The fizzy atmosphere in QM Union cannonballs as soon as Fatherson get stuck in – immediately satiating a crowd peckish for decibels and kickdrums. Drummer Greg Walkinshaw seems acutely aware of this apparent craving, and hams up his portion of their glossy, heavy sound to the extent that he suffers from a zeal-induced stitch, giddily reported after the show. Ailments aside, the band look thrilled, and that enthusiasm waterfalls into the cockpit in preparation for We Were Promised Jetpacks.

Warm-up accomplished, the Jetpacks lunge easily into a tight performance of tracks from their 2014 LP Unravelling. These newer nuggets are eagerly received by fans whose unconditional attentiveness indicate the likelihood that they’ve been around since the early days of These Four Walls. This is confirmed when robust performances of Quiet Little Voices and It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning result in the central-most punters thrashing blissfully to the sound of their lives five years ago. But it’s doesn’t feel like WWPJ share such ecstatic nostalgia. 

It’s surely difficult to declaim lyrics like “I’ll die for you” every night of a tour and emulate those originally recorded haunts and tremors, but the generous dose of well-worn material just feels a bit tidy, with screams and thuds sometimes too easily anticipated. That said, the show is peppered with plenty of exhilarating moments, where all five members (including recently instated multi-instrumentalist Stuart McGachan) thrive upon opportunities to paint a renewed, controlled sound. Seeing the band tonight, on the heels of an extensive North American tour, you gather that something astonishing might be in store when they return to Glasgow, rested, this February. [Kate Pasola]

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