Ginnels

Mountbatten Class

(Long Lost Records)

SOUNDING like a long-lost treasure from the vaults of the ‘Elephant 6’ collective, ‘Mountbatten Class’ is a fuzzy lo-fi pop gem worthy of bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control.

The side-project of Grand Pocket Orchestra and No Monster Club’s Mark Chester, Ginnels’ eight-track mini-album is a masterclass in infectiously nostalgic and jitterbugging pop music. Overachieving underachiever Chester best describes his delightful sound as “like your dickhead neighbour drowning out your Byrds and Feelies records with his poorly recorded noise jams with his… more stoned mates, except actually good.” The ‘Elephant 6’ collective’s ethos in a nutshell really!

‘Ssummer!’ sets the tone perfectly. Opening with its crackly vocals and tuneless acoustic strumming it quickly descends into a goofy fuzz-pop noise-fest with distorted guitars and swirling synths adding perfectly to the song’s wide-eyed and open-hearted sentiment.

‘In My Arms The Sedative’ is a mishmash of sixties sunshine, cheery harmonies, twanging guitars and off-beat lyrics closing with the wonderfully maudlin and sparkling mantra of “bad dream” repeated cheerily over gushy “ooh-oohs” making it reminiscent of Of Montreal’s earliest and best work.

‘Mountbatten Class’ is meticulously-crafted oddball pop music. It’s fun and catchy with its heart totally in the right place. Ginnels’ lo-fi DIY production values only add to this record’s endearing charm.

Songs like ‘Stink It Out’, ‘Algebra’ and ‘Same Same’ are sunny anecdotal vignettes complete with soul-crushing harmonies and wacky psyche pop wonderment. ‘Mountbatten Class’ is easily one of 2011’s finest Irish releases.

‘Mountbatten Class’ is now available as a free download from http://ginnels.bandcamp.com/