"Fuck you! Get Pumped!"
That right there is new the battle cry of pop punk fans around the world...or at least it's the battle cry of The Bear and myself. "Fuck you, get pumped!" It really says everything you could ever hope to say about anything ever. And who do we owe this great addition to our arsenal of phrases to say to people in almost any situation to? Direct Hit!
Direct Hit! is an incredible pop punk band who hail from Milwaukee. They've been releasing their music in EPs full of 4 songs each and are easily titled as "#1, #2, #3, #4, and #5". They also offer these EPs for free download, and you can get #4 and #5 from Death To False Hope Records, and really you should be doing this right now if you haven't already.
Both #4 and #5 start off with the catch phrase of the century, "Fuck you, get pumped!" and honestly that's all we needed to hear to get pumped from the beginning, but that doesn't stop them from giving you more reason with the first track on each EP.
#4
#4 starts off with the track "Snickers or Reese's", and seriously it's one of the most energetic songs I've ever heard. It has random, incoherent yelling in the background and just the best vocals I've ever heard, I'm serious dude. The bass on this track is just beyond awesome and the drums are just...so great. The momentum this awesome song creates continues throughout the EP with some of the best vocal deliveries and backup singing you could ever hope for.
With the second track also comes the first appearance of the keyboard on this EP. "Monster in the Closet" is a really catchy song and carries the momentum already established with "Snickers or Reese's", and this carries on to the third song, "Choke", which is a perfect anthem for anyone who is or ever has been a 17 year old punk kid. It goes into this obvious ramones homage towards the end, but I wouldn't really call this band a ramonescore pop-punk band...they're really just a catchy punk band with a lot of influences and originality. You'd be stupid to not pay attention to these guys as they release more material.
The album closer for #4 is the song "In Orbit", which is one of my favorite love songs to quote. It's a love song with a nerdy sci-fi edge about going to the moon. "We'll stay up all night before we sleep all day/and forget about our planet far away/it's just me and you and a small robot crew/that serves us tea for two in the orbit of the moon." What more could you ever want to say your dude or chick? Not much, man, not much. Excellent fucking EP.
#5
Satan Says is the first track on #5 and it's pretty damn awesome. While I don't think it's as great of an album opener as "Snickers and Reese's", it's still a super infectious song with great vocals and it of course is about evil stuff, including a mention of Cthulhu, which is what every album needs. Once again the keyboard kicks in for the second track of the EP, and for #5 that would be "First Train Out", and this song is really catchy, but not as memorable as the songs off of #4. It's definitely worth noting that this band has never made a forgettable song that I've heard, and I've heard all the EPs and their split with my friends Mixtapes from my town Cincinnati.
The third track on this EP is "Captain Asshole" and is definitely the most noteworthy track of this release. It's fun, catchy, but definitely more relaxed than any song on most of the song releases, other than #1. Actually, the album closer "More of the Same" is really catchy too, probably as catchy or more catchy. I'm not really sure...we're dealing with a shit load of catchy songs right now. It's definitely laid back compared to other efforts by this band, but it's still way more energetic than most music you'll hear from any other band. This band sets the bar higher with each release, and they keep this up as they go. Like I said before, pay attention to these dudes.
Overall
Just download these two EPs from DTFH's site already. You're missing out if you haven't already, seriously. These are 8 of the catchiest songs in the world and you should be listening to them as we speak. The Bear and I are two of the top few listeners to Direct Hit! on last.fm, but honestly all of you guys should beat us by a few hundred plays because you won't want to turn these songs the fuck off. So do it, download them. It's free. FREE.
I'm keeping my eyes peeled and my ears equally peeled for anything else these dudes put out in the future. I'll be sure to review whatever I get my hands on my them.I know this is a lengthy review for 8 songs, but fuck you...get pumped!
-Idle
