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Win Win Winter: Win Win Winter heats up
By Julie Garisto

Win Win Winter and the phrase “best new band” often appeared in the same sentence this past year.
The acclaim happened overnight — sort of.

When singer-songwriter-founder Tommy Simms started playing solo in late 2006/early 2007, there were signs of promise, but his self-titled act lacked focus.

Simms changed the name to Win Win Winter and a sudden transformation took place, like when the Bucs switched from Bucco Bruce orange to crimson and pewter. Soon after, the lineup solidified with longtime friends Josh Greenberg on keyboards, Alan Relkin on guitar, Brian Schanck on bass and Matt Bennett on drums.

Word of mouth spread, the local press praised them, they booked more and more shows and landed a spot on burgeoning indie label 24 Hour Service Station, which released their current six-song EP, A Brief History of ....

One of the major components of Win Win Winter’s strategy: Simms’ knack for interweaving the tried-and-true elements of pop with the less predictable chord progressions of jazz and progressive rock. He also writes evocative, empathic lyrics and sings them succinctly. He can snag a hook just right and hit you later with a snazzy breakdown.

WWW’s most popular songs, New Accents and Doves and Uppercuts, infiltrate your brain like tunes you’ve heard a million times on the radio, minus that not-so-fresh feeling.

“Tommy’s songs always have something that grabs your attention and commands it,” Greenberg said. “He is also very open to collaboration, which prevents his music from becoming too much of a vanity project. He is consistently reaching for new ideas and isn’t afraid to work and work at it if it’s not working out, which is another aspect of his strength as a songwriter: patience.”

Simms couldn’t do it alone. The guys, who vary in age — Schanck is the youngest at 21, and Greenberg the oldest at 27 — are just as solid. They provide much-needed creativity and texture and widely contrasting musical backgrounds — Greenberg and Relkin from Mants, Schanck from the Same and Bennett from various punk bands.

They’re all friendly jokesters onstage and off, even going so far as to insert a hidden gag on the inside of their CD sleeve: the simple phrase, “Gay Wizards Three.”

“We came up with it on tour while playing Mad Libs,” Greenberg says. The three words, he explained, were part of a revamped nursery rhyme:
“Old King Cole was a busted old soul / A shriveled old soul was he/ He called for his grandma/ He called for his postal employee/ And he called for his gay wizards three.”

Win Win Winter

Lineup:
Tommy Simms (vocals)
Josh Greenberg (keyboards)
Alan Relkin (guitar)
Brian Schanck (bass)
Matt Bennett (drums)