In his new extended play, titled Insane, Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps put their artistic narrative on the line for everyone to appreciate, and I must say, it’s one that feels rather refreshing this summer. Although rock has been struggling to stay relevant in the past few years, there isn’t any retrospection on Tikka’s part here – he’s looking ahead and broadening the pop/rock model with alternative influences that expand on the themes a lot of indie bands abandoned close to the mid-2010s. Swing is bountiful in Insane, but more importantly, melodicism is the driving force behind every cathartic moment it contains.
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There are definitely some strong pop elements in “Good Ol’ Stupid Me,” “Sweet Sugar” and “Summer Means New Love” that are easy for even the most novice of critics to pick up on, and overall, the aesthetical balance here is really something to marvel at. It’s difficult to skew rock with a lot of polished pop components without coming off as a little radio-ready, but in this case, I think the sound adds to the lyricism more than it takes away any sort of artistic credibility. In this sense, Tikka has a lot in common with some of the biggest icons the genre has ever had.
I wouldn’t call Insane a generally hook-oriented record per say, but even the acoustic track “Dismal Day” boasts a catchiness that alludes to a conceptualism I’d love to hear this band experiment with more in the future. They seem to be at their best when they’re utilizing efficiency for everything it can provide a chorus – check out “Driving Me Insane” to understand what I mean a little better – and whether they’re taking the tempo fast or slow, all of their movements sound and feel very deliberate.
The master mix in this EP is remarkably streamlined, and though I usually don’t go for that kind of a style in rock music, it affords Insane an added dose of physicality that really puts softer tunes like “Sweet Sugar” over the top. Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps are very methodical in the way they structure their music, and while some of their peers might look at their approach as being a little overcomplicated for what pop music typically calls for, I think this is precisely what makes theirs such a fetching and unique beat to get into.
If this is just a taste of what Tikka and his cohorts are going to be producing on a regular basis together, he needs to be regarded as one of the more important rock singer/songwriters coming out of his scene at the moment. There are a couple of rough edges in Insane that will inevitably get sanded out by the time this group gets into the studio for a proper full-length album, but in the meantime, its five tracks and those on Working Class Voodoo present us with a terrific way of getting to know who Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps are – and, more importantly, what they can do when they’re firing on all cylinders.
Loretta Kim