Record of the Week: Direct Order '82: demo cassette

Direct Order ‘82: Demo cassette (Crosshair Records) New Jersey’s Direct Order ’82 lay it all out there for you with their band name on this demo cassette, and those of you looking for a circa-1982 USHC rush won’t be disappointed. 12 songs in 12 minutes, though as with the shining monument of ultra-clipped, minimalist hardcore punk—the Circle Jerks’ Group Sex—there’s a lot more to these sub-minute blasts that initially meets the ear. D.O. ’82 has a couple of ringers in the band—you might know guitarist P.J. from his years in Night Birds, while the singer Tim fronted 90s New Jersey straight edge band Ensign (apologies to the other members whose resumes I don’t know as well)—and they know that a simple verse and chorus is typically not all you need for a compelling song. However, they also know that hardcore punk is all about keeping things to the point, and they toe that line brilliantly here. The riffing is on the hookier end of USHC—I find myself thinking of bands like Social Circkle or even Kid Dynamite—but the songs are so compressed and jagged and the parts come at you so quickly and relentlessly that it’s almost overwhelming… by the time you’re a couple of tracks in, your heart is definitely racing. But, like I said, despite the brevity, the songs are fully fleshed-out… there are a lot of intros that are literally like 1.5 seconds long, and bridges, outros, and other accoutrements that are nearly as brief. (Another highlight is “Leave Me Alone,” which features guitar solos before both verses, and hence reminds me of Bad Religion’s “I Want to Conquer the World,” yet still clocks in at only 59 seconds.) For fans of We Got Power: Party or Go Home, Short Music for Short People, and other hymns for the hyperactive.