Billy Hunt has been throwing stones into the pond all last year as a solo artist down in Suffolk. It hadn’t taken very long for the ripples to reach London. Now, with the help of his new band, my toes dipping in the pond up here in Scotland, are feeling the water splashing against them.

I can’t tell you if Billy Hunt is Billy Hunt’s real name or pseudonym adopted from The Jam song of the same title (I knew someone once called Cameron Smith and he tried to convince us, his school mates, that in the song Smithers-Jones, Paul Weller sang “Cameron Smith is a mod!” and we all know a David Potts, Danny Watts or some other off-brand David Watts). But what I can tell you is that Billy Hunt and the Modern Classix debut single, No Occupation, is a modern and fresh interpretation of the classic rock n roll song.

There is no messing about here, no waste or excess; you are straight into the action from the get-go, which is just as well because this little stomper of a tune is only 2 minutes 16 seconds long. It is driven along from a super tight rhythm section which belies the newness of the band and I suspect the members will have played together before. Billy’s vocal is on point with a lovely rebellious, not raspy, blues rock quality. The song is a call to arms to the marginalized and dispossessed to come together and be reckoned with. And there is a kick-ass guitar solo, as there should be.

All told, this is a debut single to be very proud of and if you keep your eyes and ears open and your toes dipped in the pond in 2023, you will, I’m certain, be feeling the spreading ripples from Billy Hunt and the Modern Classix making waves where ever your pond may be.

No Occupation is available to stream right now.

Dan Rowley
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@MusicSceneWales
musicscenewalescymru@gmail.com