Album Reviews

I’m not sure why New Orleans’ Pears and Milwaukee’s Direct Hit! decided they should do a split together, but they sure were onto something. Pears’ blisteringly fast hardcore/skatepunk works well alongside Direct Hit!’s songs, which never seemed to be able to decide on whether they wanted to be pop-punk or hardcore and ended up being both.

Direct Hit! get to kick off ‘Human Movement’ with the minute-long rager that is ‘You Got What You Asked For,’ before diving headfirst into the über-poppy ‘Blood On Your Tongue’. It’s a juxtaposition the band used before and well, it still works. Next up, we get two more pop-punk tunes that are occasionally interrupted by piercing screams which help prepare us for ‘You’re Boring’ and ‘Nothing,’ two absolutely brutal tunes with the latter being a cover of the Pears song.

Next up is Pears, all aggression and speed except for the occasional melodic foray. ‘Hey There, Begonia’ kicks off their half in the best of ways  and is quickly followed by standout track ‘Arduous Angel’, the ripper that is ‘Misery Conquers The World’ and the band’s take on Direct Hit!’s ‘Never Now’ (with some Masked Intruder thrown in for good measure).

I think the reason this split works as well as it does is because both bands can be called slightly schizophrenic. Sure, they employ different approaches, but both of them are not content being just one thing. And why should they.

Track listing:

1. You Got What You Asked For
2. Blood on Your Tongue
3. Open Your Mind
4. Shifting the Blame
5. You’re Boring
6. Nothing
7. Hey There, Begonia
8. Mollusk’s Mouth
9. Arduous Angel
10. Misery Conquers the World
11. The World Is Ending (Sorta)
12. Never Now