Tom Tikka is no stranger to the recording studio; a youthful solo deal with Olarin Musiikki in Finland, nine years and three albums with SonyBMG as the band Carmen Gray, and Josie Award nominations with the FBP Records signees The Impersonators, is a pretty solid recording career by anyone’s yardstick, but that hasn’t stopped Tom releasing three critically acclaimed EPs with new band the Missing Hubcaps.
‘Turn Back The Time’ is the first of six tracks from the ‘That’s What Winston Churchill Said’ EP, a collection of vaguely AOR-driven rock tracks with great pop sensibilities and an eye on hook-writing and catchy choruses. There’s some excellent overdriven guitar work, a nod to alt-rock and touches of storytelling songwriting a la Crowded House and INXS, alongside some nice bluesy licks interplaying with Tikka’s occasionally falsetto vocal delivery. It’s a great track, and a perfect introduction to the EP; you don’t get to make music for as long, in as many incarnations, as Tom Tikka without having something a little bit special, and that experience and originality comes across very strongly on ‘Turn Back The Time’.
Check out ‘Turn Back The Time’ on Spotify, or from Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps website.
Review by Alex Holmes