By Fred Love
This time, they’re taking off the jumpsuits.
For years, Jinnouchi Power has built its identity around a clever conceit. The long-running Des Moines–area indie rock band performs as if they’re employees of a fictional power company, sporting coordinated jumpsuits that give them a “hard-at-work” presence onstage. It’s part performance art, part inside joke, and entirely fitting for a band whose music hums with kinetic energy.
But this Saturday at xBk, when Jinnouchi Power celebrates the release of its third full-length album, those jumpsuits will stay home.
The new record, simply titled “Home,” marks a shift. Where previous releases leaned into the band’s playful concept and electric momentum, “Home” pulls the curtain back. The songs are more personal, more vulnerable, and rooted in the realities of adulthood, family life and creative persistence.
“We take the jumpsuits off for this,” said Patrick MacCready, the band’s guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter. “This is us when we’re off the clock. All the songs are about us, people we know and family members, what it means being in rock and roll and having a family.”
For MacCready, that balance is not theoretical. Now a father to a six-year-old daughter, he has experienced firsthand how life recalibrates over time. In his younger years, he juggled three bands at once, chasing gigs and creative sparks wherever they flared. As responsibilities grew, the pace had to change. The all-in, every-night hustle gave way to something steadier and more intentional.
That evolution shapes the new record, he said. The album reflects changing expectations and shifting seasons, acknowledging that ambition does not disappear when family enters the picture. It simply transforms. The songs explore what it means to remain creative and connected while also being present for the people who matter most.
Sonically, fans can still expect what Jinnouchi Power does best: sharp, memorable guitar riffs, layered harmonies, and arrangements that feel both buoyant and grounded. The band’s signature warmth remains intact. If anything, the emotional transparency of the new material makes the hooks land even harder.
That spirit carries into the physical release as well. Jinnouchi Power will have CDs available at the xBk show, each one packaged with handmade art, graphics, and personal notes. The arts-and-crafts presentation mirrors the album’s ethos. It feels intentional, tactile, and sincere, a reminder that music is still something that can be held in your hands as well as streamed through your headphones.
“I kind of what to emulate like a low-dose mushroom experience, but in a way that’s as wholesome as possible,” MacCready said, adding, “Grandma and grandpa vibes.”
On Saturday, Feb. 21, Jinnouchi Power brings this new chapter to xBk, joined by Spectral Snake and Clip Clop. It promises to be a night that celebrates not just a record release, but a band willing to step out from behind the concept and stand plainly in the light.
Tickets are on sale now at https://wl.eventim.us/event/jinnouchi-power-album-release-spectral-snake-clip-clop/672944?afflky=xBkLive.