Tom Tikka is no stranger to my pen; his great songs have dropped into my review pile with regularity for several years now. So to find him as part of a new band, WhoDaresWins, is an even more exciting prospect.
Based around two old friends and music collaborators from way back, Will Jack and John Haddrell are joined by Jack’s son, also named Willie (formerly of Dr Zee & WILLJACK fame), to whom the song is dedicated, and the aforementioned Tom. So, four seasoned players and songwriters in their own right, that’s a strong place to launch your first sonic taster and musical calling card from.
And “Hero,” their debut single, lives up to everything that such a collection of talent promises. A modern take on classic rock ‘n’ roll, rather than rock (… this grooves, this swings, this is boogiesome, it’s spacious and infectious) it lives up to their own chosen description perfectly – “a new kind of familiar” – it’s like music you have heard before, yet stands out as something new on the rock landscape.
It is a song full of great riffs and driving beats, it is cool and contagious, it is a breath of fresh air in a genre all too often full of stodgy and conformist, unadventurous and unedifying music, and that is in no small part thanks to Jack senior’s unique vocals, part 85 year old blues growler, part whisky soaked rock bawller.
Not just a super group, but also a bit of a supergroup.
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