From Scotland to DeKalb: We Were Promised Jetpacks flies through

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Singer Adam Thompson of We Were Promised Jetpacks.

By Ross Hettel

Glasgow, Scotland to DeKalb, Illinois: a road not commonly travelled.

Scottish rock group We Were Promised Jetpacks jetted through DeKalb Thursday for one brief night filled with frantic riffs and cascading walls of distortion at the House Cafe, 263 E. Lincoln Highway.

The group formed back in high school for a battle of bands contest, and stuck together after most of the members moved to Glasgow for college. Those years in college proved to be a little stagnant for the band.

“We weren’t pushing it or anything like that,” said Sean Smith, WWPJ’s bassist. “There were ages when we didn’t practice, we were just playing gigs. We weren’t practicing or writing new songs. It was like, this isn’t very good.”

However, after a few really good shows in Glasgow, the band was contacted by a label, and Smith said that made them take it more seriously and get their act together.

Seems like that decision was the right one, as the band is now on a massive tour through the U.S. after the release of its sophomore album, In the Pit of the Stomach.

Travelling through the States doesn’t seem to be too hard of a journey, though.

“The van we used to have was named the Vansion, because it was lovely,” Smith said.

A transit van filled with leather chairs, Wi-Fi, an XBox and wireless headsets; We Were Promised Jetpacks clearly knows how to travel in style.

Except for this year.

Due to a mess up, the band is travelling in just a normal van on this tour.