Pinact - The Part that No One Knows (2017)

Pinact is back, but it’s hardly like they’ve been away. Relentlessly performing and honing their craft, Corrie Gillies (vocals, guitar), Lewis Reynolds (drums) were already a frantic on-stage force, before they added Jon Arbuthnott (bass) to bring out the razor-sharp melodies and unapologetically fuzzy guitars. The Part That No One Knows, a much-anticipated follow-up to 2014’s excellent debut, Stand Still and Rot, delivers on all fronts – the trio offers hooks by the dozen, artillery-style drumming and perfectly synchronised guitar interplay. Written and recorded in Glasgow, the Scottish Highlands and London, Pinact’s approach to album 2 was noticeably different. “We intentionally holed ourselves up in the Highlands to focus on bringing out the melodies, and I think that shows,” Gillies explains. The fruits of a frozen Northern labour are evident in anthemic efforts like ‘Oh’, an immediate sing-along, and ‘Seams’, which sees the singer take on challenging vocal parts with consummate ease. In the early writing stages of the writing process the band went on a trip to Leeds to see The Cribs; the influence is notable, while fans of Dinosaur Jr., The Breeders and Weezer will find a lot to nod along to in The Part That No One Knows. However, Pinact’s brand of pop-infused rock is an entity unto itself: “I purposefully didn’t listen to other music while writing and recording, I get lost in my own world”, Gillies says, and the lyricism makes this very clear: ‘Regrettable Thrill’ for example lends more to a bleakly Scottish sense of humour and world-weariness that could only be Gillies, as opposed to American rock bands. With the band now all based in Glasgow, the group's cohesiveness is plainly apparent all over the LP. ‘Separate Ways’ is an example: the chorus is unmistakably Pinact’s, but with Arbuthnott’s rock-steady bass work, Gillies’ is allowed to play a snaking guitar line over drumming so determined that threatens to burst out of the speaker. While Stand Still and Rot was far from an album of restraint, The Part That No One Knows is the work of a more versatile outfit, and the song-writing is all the better for it. Emboldened by appearances in New York, at Texas’ SXSW and extensive UK tours, Pinact’s live show and recorded output is thrilling; articulate but brash, kind but loud and fine-crafted, yet frenetic. Try to find a more fun record than this in 2017, one that isn’t afraid to be playful but expresses complex emotion side-to-side with rhythm work that’s second-to-none. The Part That No One Knows is a record that a lot of people are about to know.