Fast Money Music: Album available everywhere 17th April 2026

Fast Money Music goes Round and Round

Nevermind: The latest single from Fast Money Music's Debut LP  

When you punch Fast Money Music into your music streaming app, the NYC electro-punks Suicide pops up. I love their work, a band who were truly punk, who could spark a punch up in CBGBs within a couple of songs.  What they did with their instruments and their lyrics displayed an artistic courage that defined the punk attitude.  Suicide were iconoclastic, innovative, left-field.  Not afraid to face off, shake up and incite radical thinking, even the duo name chosen by Martin Rev and Alan Vega was (and remains) a shocking piece of punk branding.

The song Fast Money Music opens their second and final studio LP.  Electronic keyboard jitters, moving things up a tech level from the jangling guitars heard in Velvet Underground's I'm Waiting For My Man, Suicide laid down a track that is, to me, disdainful of commercial pressure to churn out recordings for the label.  Is Nick Hinman's choice of recording name, Fast Money Music, an homage to Rev and Vega's work, or ironic comment on being part of The Machine, that Pink Floyd kicked against from the inside?  Possibly.  Is it Hinman's creative cry for (financial) help as he digs his way out of a pit of rejection? He sees this album as part of his self-help recovery process from a real low, most artistic souls probably identify with in some form or another.  

Well, he's not entirely alone as he has got a few mates to chip in here.  Names from bands such as 1975, the Klaxons, CMAT and Haelos, plus a couple of star turns, like Zöe Bleu and Oliver Marson also make appearances.  At the mixing desk and elsewhere in production, the whole project is emerald crusted top to bottom.

When you dig a bit deeper, the mix of songs gathered in this album, also called Fast Money Music, is a bit of a clear out from the back of the cupboard, the bottom drawer, the top shelf and even the attic. Knowing this, I sense Hinman is making an ironic comment on the lengthy gestation of the album. Not a fast route to money spinning cash, but a significant span of time, bridging a substantial period of his life.

This exercise in de-cluttering has dug up some real gems, that have been nicely polished up with a little help from his friends. Crocodile Tears is a classic, lifting it above common-or-garden indie land-fill genre.  With its easy chorus and lilting guitar accompaniment, this number goes round and swings back round bringing a genuine sing-a-long, play-it-again quality.  And there’s more where ever this jewel came from. There is a BRMC-style crackerjack of a song in Lover Boy. The simple drumming introduction with threatening bass, builds layer by layer into a right rocker, with a great bit of saxophone filling out the guitar-led chorus.

The album is a magpie’s hoard of shiny things, gathered in a well-lined nest.  Round and Round, is a light brief opener.  Hinman has an ear for a melody and he doesn’t overload the verses with fancy lyrics.  I had to check what I was listening to when Unfortunately popped up. Is this Julian Casablancas, The Strokes or Fast Money Music?  It’s another number confirming that Hinman is tuned into the popular rock vibe. 

There is plenty to enjoy here, whether the heavier, slower tracks, or the more pop-rock tunes. The sax adds depth to the tones of these tunes, a nice balance to the higher, intense pitch of the lead guitar.  There Are No Words being a fine example, before the LP rolls into Ashes, another enjoyable swirling number, which the sweetly-attuned presence of Zöe Bleu here adds a feel-good romantic edge. 

The closing track, Less Real follows the form of much of what has been before, but is no less welcome for that.  Fast Money Music is a fine album as we move toward the summer months. I can sense the warm breeze on the skin, roof-open, the rolling tunes and chorus lines, ideal for the open road, or indeed waiting for a jam to clear.

It may have taken a while to get enough Fast Money Music material together for this recording, but it is well worth a listen. I am sure that the gigs that have been lined up for the band in the UK will be a success, as was the previous expedition in 2023.

Live dates

22nd April - The Shacklewell Arms, London (tickets here)

7th May - Rough Trade Denmark St, London

10th June - Supersonic, Paris

You can find out more about Nick Hinman's Fast Money Music via Spotify | Instagram | YouTube

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Spencer Ide

16th April 2026