Review: Direct Hit! “Domesplitter” (2011)

Direct Hit!
Domesplitter
Kind of Like Records (2011)
R.I.Y.L. Dillinger Four, Latterman, The Loved Ones

Score: 10/10

When I sat down to write my review for Direct Hit!’s excellent new full length Domesplitter, I realized that there are going to be two very distinct groups of people reading it. The band cut their teeth on a series of 5 EPs that they gave away for free, first on their own and later through Death to False Hope Records. The 10 tracks on Domesplitter were culled from those releases, voted on by fans and re-recorded in the studio by the band’s current roster. So in one corner you have said fans, like myself, that want to know how the new versions of their old favorites sound, and in the other, a plethora of potential new fans who have never heard a Direct Hit! song before and just want to know if the music is good or not. And trust me, it is very good.

For those not yet in the know, “Fuck you! Get pumped!” is the band’s rallying cry, and once singer/guitarist Nick Woods shouts those four words 7 seconds into the album you should know you are getting yourself into half an hour of fast, fun, Dillinger Four-esque punk rock with topics that range from love to zombie attacks, and everything in between. Following the shout of the band’s mantra, Direct Hit! dives right into the franticly paced Snickers Or Reese’s (Pick Up The Pieces), my favorite track from Direct Hit!’s cannon. Snickers is a song that can barely be contained by CD or vinyl, getting faster and more desperate until it feels like the band is going to explode through your speakers and take root permanently in your frontal lobe. No energy has been lost from the original version found on the band’s #4 EP. It sounds crisp without being over-produced and, if anything, the band sounds more passionate than on the original.  And louder. Definitely louder.

Satan Says demonstrates that Woods is learned in all things geek, with lyrics like “But he gives me super powers, like the wizards in Twin Towers. Big thanks for the vase of flowers. Sure, I’ve got 10 minutes, but it’s not for hours. We’re aligning planets too, that’s how you call Cthulu. No, I’m not lying to you. Wait a goddamn minute, don’t push the issue.” In Orbit is a science fiction love story in outer space where “a small robot crew” serves “tea for two in the orbit of the moon,” and horror rears its grisly head in album closer They Came For Me, a full on zombie attack in less than three minutes. The amalgamation of genre references turned on their head and the humor in which the band presents them is just a Simon Pegg away from being an Edgar Wright flick, and equally enjoyable.

Of course, a band can’t survive on witty references and catchphrases alone, but the group has the musical chops to grab the listener from first play. With drummer Danny Walkowiak and bassist Robbie Schroeder rounding out the band, Direct Hit! has the catchy hooks, the skilled harmonies, and the “whoa-ohs” one comes to expect from a pop-punk summer release. The album’s first single, Monster in the Closet, is fast and insanely fun, with fist-pumping “hey! heys!” to shout along with and a beat made to get your ass up and moving. Kingdom Come slows things down, an organ joining in and filling out the catchy mid-tempo number. The band joyfully assaults your ears with a virtual wall of sound on Failed Invasion, a synth and organ combining with guitar, bass, and drum for a blisteringly fast treat.

The tracks presented on Domesplitter are touched up just enough to give their current fans a reason to revisit these songs along with the band, and they’re catchy enough to attract the new fans the band deserves. Pick it up now on their bandcamp page and get pumped!

-Emily Matview