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Grown Something Violent: New JinnyOops!

Osaka’s JinnyOops! originally attracted attention from the teeny-tiny Japanese music blogosphere by introducing horns into punk-tinged rock. It was a cute little touch to a type of music always in surplus, a move bordering on gimmick-ness save for the group’s ability to not sound like a novelty. JinnyOops! easily could have held onto this clever touch and always had a built-in draw. “Hey, it’s that Osaka punk band! With the horns!

Turns out they wanted to put the brass down and transform into well-put-together street urchins, designer safety pins carefully jammed into jackets.

JinnyOops! have three newish songs – full ones, not samples like they did for their last album – and the horns are nowhere to be heard, replaced by pure guitar wallop. Make no mistake, this isn’t Negative Approach – JinnyOops! still maintain a little bit of pop prettiness, at least on songs “Matthew” and “雷鳴shocking.” They sound a bit like what SCANDAL used to before they mutated into billboards, except a little more aggressive and thus likely to be filed somewhere near the “STAFF ONLY” door at Tower Records. Then they also have the just-over-a-minute stomach punch of “ROSS DEATH MONEY,” which I’m sure some jaded punker would decry as “NOT PUNK MAN!!!” but to me sounds totally in line with the breathless energy associated with that adjective. Listen here.