B-Side Guys

Collision becomes communion on “Direct Hit,” the latest offering from Brooklyn three-piece Lie About. Rather than shying away from pain, the track accelerates toward it, transforming interpersonal damage into a perversely sought-after form of connection.

Recorded at The Thousand Caves in Queens with engineer Colin Marston (known for work with experimental metal acts), the song’s production creates a fascinating contradiction—sonically massive yet emotionally exposed. This duality serves the band’s self-described “post-power-pop” aesthetic, where conventional hooks undergo mutation through hardcore intensity and new wave angularity.

The track’s central paradox emerges in its chorus, where the repeated phrase “DIRECT HIT” functions simultaneously as target designation and plea for authenticity. When vocalist Jason Bauers (also of technical metal outfit Behold the Arctopus) demands “I wanna feel how you’ve been wronged,” he positions pain reception as a twisted form of empathy—a shortcut to understanding through shared damage rather than conversation.

This lyrical approach confronts privilege directly, with lines acknowledging “I’ve been protected, I’ve been lucky” while lamenting “can’t fix much with these shakey hands.” Here, Lie About examines a particularly modern condition: the paralysis of the fortunate who recognize systemic inequity yet feel powerless to create meaningful change. The accompanying imagery of “billions of puzzles overlapping” where “pieces never fit” evokes both societal fragmentation and personal incompatibility.

What elevates “Direct Hit” beyond similar examinations of male vulnerability is its willingness to embrace apparent contradiction. The “danceable beat” mentioned in promotional materials creates bodily engagement that contrasts with the cerebral alienation described in the lyrics. Similarly, the band’s characterization of their approach as “tongue-in-cheek yet sincere” acknowledges how ironic distance often serves as protective armor around genuine emotion in contemporary indie rock.

The track’s final plea—”Please take me into your arms and heal me”—arrives after repeated invitations to inflict harm, suggesting these seemingly opposed desires (damage and healing) may actually be interconnected aspects of vulnerable connection. The closing admission of “can’t help feeling this falling feeling” represents surrender to emotional gravity after exhausting all defensive posturing.

As part of their high-energy live performances described as “rapid-fire, hook-laden catharsis,” “Direct Hit” likely serves as both pressure release valve and connection point between band and audience. By transforming personal inadequacy into communal experience, Lie About creates space where admission of weakness becomes, paradoxically, a show of strength.