Back in 2013 Direct Hit! absolutely killed it with their second full length and Red Scare debut Brainless God. There is no question that they gained a lot more popularity within the punk scene when that album came out. But what was Direct Hit! up to between when their first full length Domesplitter, which came out in 2011 and 2013 when Brainless God was released? They recorded several split EP’s with various bands on a few different labels.

So what Direct Hit! decided to do was to rerecord, remix, and remaster (with their current line up) all of those songs that were on those splits (and even a couple from their #5 EP from their Death False Hope Records days) and centralize them all one “new” album called More of the Same (Satanic Singles 2010-2014). Its pretty much the same way Domesplitter was recorded except that release consisted of new recordings of songs from #1 - #5 EP’s. And that strategy worked out well for Direct Hit! because Domesplitter was a great first album and it has worked out well for them yet again with this release.

For those of you who might just be discovering these eleven tracks for the first time, just know that they are just as angry and aggressive as the other pop-punk jams are Direct Hit’s other albums. In other words, it’s the same Direct Hit! we all know and love. There are shouts of “FUCK YOU!” during some songs, and the band starts off the first track, “Bored and Out of Line,” (originally from their split EP with Braver) with their infamous catch phrase “FUCK YOU! GET PUMPED!”

When you compare these newly recorded tracks and the originals the differences are very apparent. The production quality on all of them has been taken up a level in quality. The track “Fallout Shelter Televison,” which was originally on their split with The Haverchucks and also on Kind of Like A Comp 2, is much clearer than the original and a lot tighter. It still has the band yelling the lyrics at the top of their lungs, but the major difference is that the guitar solo is played on the higher strings when it was formerly played on the lower strings. Unfortunately, Direct Hit! decided to leave out the very funny outro, which is just a wet fart sound effect, on the new version. That is really the only (slight) disappointment I have with this release. An important change? Not really. Am I immature? Probably. Fart noises are hilarious.

Now I would argue that Direct Hit’s song “Werewolf Shame” is one of the best pop-punk tunes that has come out in the last decade or so. The main riffs fit together perfectly, the melody is really catchy, the vocals are angry and threatening, and the guitar solo rips. So when I first read that it was going to be on More of the Same, I was very interested to hear how the band would go about rerecording it. If you have seen them perform this song, you’ll hear that they rearranged this new recording to sound much like the way they play it live. You can hear Devon Kay’s voice harmonize Nick Woods’s lead vocals, which makes the track sound a lot lighter than what you hear on the original. The guitar riff that is played during the chorus is much more prevalent and they added a fuzzy distortion tone to the solo.

More of the Same (Satanic Singles 2010-2014) is a great release for fans of Direct Hit! old and new. For their newer fans, this album is a really good way to play catch-up because the majority of the original recordings of these songs have been taken down off the internet and most of the vinyl copies are long out print and are very hard to come by on a third party website. For older fans, it’s really interesting to see how Direct Hit! rearranged these songs and compare them to the originals. You’ll hear that the band improved them quite a bit. You may even find a song or two you have never heard before.

FUCK YOU! GET PUMPED! More of the Same (Satanic Singles 2010-2014) rules. Deal with it.