Music album review: The Jinsy Boys – Tvignest (Bran & Chubb, 2018)
- Opening Ceremoni (2:26)
- Three Colour Biro (2:07)
- ‘Til the Cows (3:19)
- I’ve Got Something (1:09)
- Margery (3:08)
- Feelberries (3:07)
- Cheesemonger (2:30)
- Strange Postman (3:25)
- Uncle Mushroom (3:23)
- Astro Veg (2:52)
- String Vest (2:10)
- Mr Mercurio (3:36)
- Tvignest (4:38)
One of the best things about This is Jinsy was the music, and I especially loved being able to buy the music – instead of having to record it off the telly in order to be able to listen to it at your leisure (glaring at you, Horrible Histories). Unfortunately, Sky decided they’d had enough of Jinsy after two seasons, but lucky for those of us who loved it, its creators – Chris Bran and Justin Chubb – hadn’t had enough at all.
Here is the result of their efforts – an album of gloriously surreal folk music!
Sadly, it only has a runtime of 37:50 minutes, but they put each second to such good use. From the creative uses of a three-colour pen, an ode to a librarian (the twist is fabulous) or a favourite piece of clothing, astrological advice (“beige shall be your lucky colour, puce will bring disaster”), the many uses of feelberries, postmen who don’t deliver any mail, and the titular song sung in an “ancient Jinsy dialect”, complete with a video looking like an old Czechoslovakian animation:
(Which we somehow grew up with in Sweden in the early 1990s, I have no idea why.)
The lyrics are as hilarious as they are bizarre, and they’re set to excellent yet kind of timeless folk style tunes as well, which makes for a fantastic mix if you happen to enjoy folk style music and surreal humour. Every time I listen to the album I hear something new.
My favourite is Astro Veg, with lines like
Those born in the sign of Melvin could seem slightly hairier
Watch out for a soup-based journey in the Croydon area
but Three-Colour Biro has made me laugh out loud, and every time I hear Cheesemonger I fancy gorging on a vintage cheddar. It’s class, and what’s even better – there’s a follow-up!
5 out of 5 somethings you ain’t got
