Oozing out of the speakers with a molten-hot riff that could destroy just about anything that gets in its path, “Driving Me Insane” starts off with a heavier frontend than some of its counterparts in the tracklist of Insane, but nevertheless, it’s just as melodic an anthem as any other on this latest cut from Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps. Delivered with a dash of Americana in its harmony, “Driving Me Insane” has the kind of surprisingly affectionate core that used to be rather commonplace in rock music’s slower songs, but in 2020, it’s next to impossible to find in the mainstream or underground the same. In tracks like this one, as well as the multilayered throw-down that is “Summer Means New Love,” alternative pop/rock gets the kind of post-millennial update it’s been in need of for quite some time, but I would stop well short of calling Insane a declaration of war on everything on the FM dial. There’s as much an appreciation for the past as there is a desire to break away from the pack here, and last time I checked, those were two attributes rarely found in the same disc.
“Summer Means New Love” incorporates a lot of the heaviness we hear in “Driving Me Insane” into its harmonic foundation, but when it comes to the sly hook in “Sweet Sugar,” Tikka’s backing band doesn’t mind easing off the gas from the rear so that their leading man can serenade us with a heavenly lead vocal.
He’s got so much affection in his voice here, but juxtaposed with the hesitant sway of the rhythm, it’s as though he’s debating something internally and we’re simply listening-in on his personal thoughts. There’s a lot of vibrancy to all of the material here, and in songs like “Good Ol’ Stupid Me,” it’s more than obvious that Tom Tikka is pretty comfortable putting his words into a first-person perspective when it serves the narrative well. He’s got a lot of versatility as a songwriter, and in this setting, he’s able to put all of his ideas onto paper without fearing consequence for coloring outside the lines, if you will.
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“Dismal Day” clocks in as the shortest song on this EP at a conservative minute and forty-nine seconds, but for what it lacks in length it more than compensates us for in substance. The same can be said of Insane overall, and in the grander scheme of things, I think this record actually packs a lot of good content into a relatively small space (which is a task that no artist or band likes to take on). Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps still have a long ways to go before they can claim a position in the international underground pop hierarchy, but compared to some of their competitors in the United States, I think they’re getting off to about as good a start as they could have asked for. Insane is a spellbinder, and I’m hoping it’s only the first of many such records to come out of the band’s studio sessions.
Jodi Marxbury