They open Hit It! with a two-part joint that shows their soulful, retro side and their progressive, edgy side, an opening that really signifies the band's overall development as musicians. Although it sounds a little amateur, the delivery saves the flavor of this band's get-downing(ness).
The album quickly changes pace to an upbeat, oftentimes repetitious sound that is borderline a mixture between The Joy Division and Prince in their lyricism and execution throughout the EP. Then they also come with splashes of Devo and Janelle Monae in their sound and execution as well, but not like they would sound all over the place either. They keep their sound organized, which makes them clean and promising. Imagine if Hit It! was a playlist of all your favorite post-punk and soulful rock songs you could snatch from LimeWire before their settlement.
This album is filled with cynicism that only the alternative music folk can master. Enough sass and attitude a punk can handle, there are songs that make you think about the most basic of things - pop culture, hating love and being human. Not to mention the sarcasm. "Hater" is a song where Tendaberry apologizes for being such an offensive ass for telling the truth in a soft, harmonious finger-snapping ballad. Now, what hater you know is going to apologize for being one? No true hater will A) know they're a hater or B) apologize for being a hater, reasons why this song should not be realistic in any way but it is entertaining background music.
Although slack has been cut for this band due to the recession and the locality of this band, the sound of this album is often annoying, especially considering the amount of garage punk and noise bands already saturating the local Atlanta scene. Although you can tell these guys are a tall glass of fresh water, Tendaberry could've done a better, and definitely cleaner, job mastering this EP. It's one thing to carry on the tradition of sounding local, but if your guitarist is rocking with Deep Cotton and Janelle Monae and opening up for Prince, better will be expected after six years of work. Just saying!
The only true disorganizing thing about Hit It! is the content. It comes off as a showcase of music rather than something important to listen to. Like I said before, it's like a playlist of all your faves from the post-punk genre, as well as any soulful rock music you could think of. Just know that you will never realize it's over, and be pissed when it is. That's the joy of EP's, I guess... I would really look forward to a full-fledge project from this band.
Star's Grade: A-
If they had as much money and time as Prince and Janelle, their records would sound just as good. The talents in place. But when you have to scrimp and save to be able to record after hours with what little time you've got after you get off work, its going to sound like it was done fast. The energy and the songs are what matters and they are fantastic.
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