Ignored             Obscured              Restored

The Gnomes are a band of young guys — founder Jay Millar is only 19 — from the seaside town of Frankston, Australia, just outside Melbourne.  Their sound is driven by an infatuation with ’60s beat groups, from the Beatles and the Stones to the Kinks, the Creation, and fellow Australians the Easybeats.  That retro devotion is tempered with a dose of garage-psych grit and a streak of punk attitude.

Their self-titled debut, released last October, rocks! Take, for instance, “I’m Not the One.”

The song’s throwback sound is energetic, built on a driving rhythm and a punchy, immediately memorable hook.  There’s something about it that reminds me of Hüsker Dü’s “Don’t Want to Know If You Are Lonely” — not in any direct way, but in the way urgency and melody collide.

Lyrically, the band tends toward the straightforward: charming, but often lacking in nuance.  “I’m Not There” is a simple breakup song, captured in plainspoken lines:

Woke up early
Found out you are leaving me today
I can’t see it, I can’t see it

Tell me your reasons
Cause deep inside I’m burning twice as more
Leaking more and more and more

What you’re trying to say
Is I’m not the one
So what you’re trying to say
Is that we’re done

I plan to keep an eye on this band. With their blend of retro instinct and modern aggression, The Gnomes look well positioned to inherit some of the space once claimed by Green Day, Arctic Monkeys, and the White Stripes — bands that made lean, urgent rock feel essential.

Enjoy… until next week.