The Dirtmitts

Hamilton's Dirtmitts came out of the indie rock scene in 2001 with their debut CD "In the Meantime" and scored some air on campus radio with tracks like "In the Meantime" and "These Hands". They even managed to get "Fix & Destroy" on the best TV show EVER (it would be "24" if you don't already know this). But the problem with the Dirtmitts wasn't their dated mid-90s sound (far be it for me, I loved that sound, so I'm all for bands digging it up again), the problem was the rest of the album was so forgetable. It wasn't bad, but it left no impression whatsoever. Still, the good songs were catchy enough to get their name out there and get some anticipation brewing for the follow-up. How does "Get On" stack up? Does it follow up on the potential shown? Well, no. While the sound seems more rock oriented and feels more stripped down, they're still incapable of penning something solid and memorable. Most of the songs on "Get On", like "In the Meantine" are monotonous, bleed-together indie rockers. But the fact remains is that they're not inept at writing a good hook. The title track is a nice peppy tune that bobs along at a relaxed pace before the distortion kicks in the chorus, and "Get the Minus Gone" is a nice breezy jangly tune. But problems even surface in some of the good songs also. "Figure it Out"'s staccato riffing at first makes the song, but overstays its welcome pretty quickly, and "Bank Card" takes nearly three minutes before it finally picks up steam. And while "The Tag Is It" seems like the "rawk song" the band kicked out for laughs, it's more laughably bad than fun. The Dirtmitts are kinda like the last summer blockbuster you saw: Had some wicked car chases and some cool explosions, but in the end you don't remember a thing about it. Still, it was fun at the time. While they're still moving in the same ho-hum direction, I'm still holding out for something great from theys gals and guys. For Fans Of: Weezer, Belly, Breeders, Jale