We’ve come to know Frankston, Australia-based singer-songwriter/guitarist Jay Millar—still in his teens—as the brain behind The Gnomes, whose self-titled debut LP made it into the top 20 of my year-end list, but there’s plenty more where that came from. At home in his bedroom, he writes and records one banger after another—not intimate bedroom pop, but cheerful garage beat—and here we hear some great examples of that.

This new solo album, Peppermint Shake, is a wonderful and telling release—the artist aptly describes it as “five originals and five covers, all in mono, nothing serious, just a bit of fun”—that perfectly captures what the prodigy stands for and where his heart lies. In terms of style, theme, and quality, the originals easily rival the well-chosen covers—Love Potion No. 9 (The Clovers) is probably the most famous cut here—as everything here is equally exciting and danceable, before closing track Goodbye lets you recover.

Peppermint Shake is out now digitally via Goblin Records.

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