Fast Money Music – ‘Fast Money Music’ album review: Can copying the greats make you great?
Does everything have to be original? Throughout the billions of lawsuits Marvin Gaye’s estate have launched against other artists, the repeated argument has been that there is only so much music out there, so far you can go before you hit the wall of your biggest inspirations hard. On his self-titled debut album, Fast Money Music is smashing into that wall so hard, but he’s doing it like James Dean – in style.
The Skinny: There is always someone there to argue that if music is referential, it’s crap and unoriginal. Especially in the world of rock music, it’s a strange argument, given that since the dawn of time, all icons were already referencing icons. There is technically no such thing as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, just tapestries of the likes of Fats Domino, Howlin’ Wolf, and Chuck Berry, as both bands always held their hands up to. For a good while at the start of both of their careers, they weren’t even writing their own songs – why both if they’re just going to sound like their idols anyway?
But since reaching this modern age of music, the tradition seems to have faltered. References have become dirty words, ‘for fans of’ has become basically illegal. It is symptomatic of the strange way that modern music isn’t valued as highly as old school stuff, as saying something is inspired by The Strokes is more likely to warrant a giggle of pity, while saying something was shaped in the image of Led Zeppelin or George Harrison gains intrigue.
Across Fast Money Music, musician Nick Hinman wears his inspirations on his sleeve so clearly that it will divide the crowd. Plenty will hate that. Even looking at the song titles with things like ‘Crocodile Tears’, ‘Lost Angeles’, ‘Bossa Supernova’ all sound like indie song titles ChatGPT might throw up, or that Vampire Weekend might have dropped on their 2006 debut. They sound exactly as you’d expect – sun-soaked indie pop-rock with strains of The Strokes, Ezra Koenig, and The 1975. It has that brightly coloured sheen of contemporary indie in the way that ‘indie sleaze’ was never really all that grotty.
But many will love it as by doing that, it bottles all the energy of old favourites into new songs. There are some broader nods, too. ‘There Are No Words’ sounds like ‘Have Love Will Travel’, while the closing anthem ‘Less Real’ feels like a Tom Petty tune. A lot of people will enjoy the fact that this debut basically cuts the fat, coming across as a compilation tape of hits, respecting the way that Hinman is open about being the lovechild of decades upon decades of rock and roll, your ultimate, classic man with a skateboard and a guitar who grew up in San Francisco with all this music as a genuine education reverberating from the city around him. It might be a pastiche, but he can’t be a phoney – he’s homegrown.
But is originality a requirement for greatness? Fast Money Music is incredibly made by Hinman and help from the likes of The 1975’s George Daniels, Jamie Reynolds and Steffan Halperin from the Klaxons, and production from Mikko Gordon, who worked with IDLES and The Smiles. It’s basically the result of the indie avengers and so naturally, it sounds great. But with nothing new or surprising, can it be truly great?
I’d argue perhaps not, but perhaps just not yet. One look at Hinman and the star power is obvious. So perhaps this debut, with its more obvious references, was a necessary debut to clear the cache of years of stored-up ideas. Perhaps next time can be more experimental.
Standout Track: ‘Bossa Supernova’
The Verdict: On Fast Money Music’s debut, Nick Hinman gathers up the entire lineage of indie icons and steps into the shoes of them all, one by one. With his star power and great backing band, it’s enough to work. But with nothing all that fresh, he can’t quite graduate to his own league of legends yet.
Release Date: April 17th, 2026 | Producer: Mikko Gordan and Nick Hinman | Label: Sick Records LTD
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