AMG Review of Hit Me Again [EP]

Johnny Loftus
All Music Guide

Neon's Josh Bitmead (vocals/guitar), Jamie Gurney (drums), and Britt Spooner (bass; new contender for coolest name ever?) rocked their way from Melbourne to the ears of Steve McDonald, and the Redd Kross mastermind helped produce this debut EP. There's a little bit of that band in here, and Cheap Trick and Sloan, too -- on "Dizziness" and "Hit Me Again," Bitmead and Spooner's spry, sugary harmonies lock into guitars that rev like muscle cars racing over California viaducts. It's that crashing instrumentation -- the drums are pretty loud throughout -- that keeps Hit Me Again from the sometimes too-slick territory of contemporary power pop bands. An outfit like the Figgs is a better reference point. Hit Me includes two demos in addition to the studio tracks -- a crunchy-for-good-measure cover of the Trick's "He's a Whore," as well as the softer pop chime of "Million Suns."