JINX LENNON, the Dundalk agit-folk, punk-poet, has just released two new albums - Past Pupil Stay Sane and Magic Bullets Of Madness To Uplift Grief Magnets - and plays two shows in County Galway this week.
It has been six years since Jinx's last studio album, National Cancer Strategy. In the meantime he has become a father, and began experimenting with technology, and admitted, "the songs weren’t coming as quickly as they had been".
However a 2014 collaboration with cult Liverpool band, Clinic, provided “a jumpstart to fresh material”, as did a re-engagement with the acoustic guitar. The result are the two new albums. “One has more gentleness, and one is fuller, with more beats, but they each complement the other," says Jinx.
Musically, they feature folk, pop, headbanger rock, spoken word, and deal with life along the border (“I know every smell from sewer pipes to the chip shops…”– I Know My Town ), corporate corruption (“You know they’re all infected…” – David Drummm ), relationships (“Learn how to talk to women – listen to them, be interested…” – Learn How To Talk To Girls' ), and unemployment (“Is it a good job? Is it a real job? Is it a scumbag job? Is it a smack in the gob?” – 70,000 New Jobs ).
Jinx plays Strange Brew at the Róisín Dubh on Thursday November 17 at 9pm with Japanese metal band Electric Eel Shock, and TPM. Jinx also plays the Gallery Café, Gort on this Sunday at 8.30pm. See www.jinxlennon.com
