Ginnels may not be punk in sound, but Mark Chester knows his classics. A melancholic wandering song like Johnny Thunders Said only gets better with the reference (“Cause really, as Johnny Thunders said, you can’t put your arms around a memory”). It’s the second track on The Picturesque, but I was already hooked by the slow-building opener The Body Was Gone. Then came the bass intro of track three, and once the song titled Narrator fully came to live, I was all in. That one’s a jangle pop gem, fitting right in with the current Bay Area scene (think The Umbrellas, The Telephone Numbers, The Reds, Pinks and Purples, and Chime School), but also Australian bands like Quivers.

But Ginnels, of course, are an Irish band, but none of that matters really. It’s not their location that defines them, but the strength of their songwriting. The Picturesque is a stellar guitar pop record, one that scores low on the sounds-all-the-same meter and high on the better-than-average scale.

It’s been over eight years since we last heard from Ginnels, but The Picturesque was worth the wait. LP out now on Madrid label Tenorio Cotobade.

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