‘This Is My Happy Face’ is not a cheery record. Frankly, a name that obviously up front about being happy clearly has a darker tone behind it. Tom Tikka & The Missing Hubcaps are not making cheery, upbeat, and optimistic rock by any means. It’s a contemplative record, one that has spiritual undertones that, while dark, are also strangely sentimental and moving. Yes, there are moments that are harrowing and even suicidal, but there are others that make you appreciate and take a deeper look at the life around you. It’s in that range that this album succeeds. Its ability to discuss it all with a measured and pensive approach is remarkable.
Starting with ‘Bullet in the Head’, the project gets off on a grim and heavy note. The song deals with Tikkas’ internal struggles, unresolved issues with his father, and the dread in the day to day. The grim delivery of ‘ I need a bullet in the head’ is immediately unsettling, making you strap on for a rocky ride ahead. As the song kicks into gear, it gets increasingly darker and heavier. The following piece,’ Heart’s on Fire’ is a bit more cheery in the arrangement, an almost power rock tune that has a deep seated nostalgia to it. Rather than look back with rose tinted glasses, Tikka has a much more dreary way of looking behind. But that moment, where he sings ‘I’m Alive’, makes for a minute of complete adulation.
It’s on ‘Space Cowboys’ that the group hits their stride. The slower ballad of a tune builds without getting excessively aggressive or abrasive to listen to. Theirs a psychedelic absurdity to the tune as well, one that one listen to the lyrics will reveal to you immediately.
‘This Is My Happy Face’ is a concept album to reckon with. It’s Inspired by a documentary on psychic mediums, wherein the album recounts the final moments before death, the flashing of light before it all goes to black. The album starts
with the suicide of the protagonist and ends in the Garden of Judas. Packed in between are select moments where life’s events flash before their eyes. It’s not an easy going listen, but it’s one to sit down with and unpack at your own time.