Dirt Bike Annie’s Hit the Rock! is a lot like swimming in syrup: it’s sweet, it’s sticky, and after you’re done, it’s really, really tough to get out of your ears.

Unabashed power pop of the sweetest order, Dirt Bike Annie delivers pound after pound of cotton-candy hooks, coated with sticky smooth vocals. While cranking out a punky sound, the band focuses its attention nearly entirely on no-holds-barred pop, driving its irrepressibly catchy tunes into listeners’ ears. A monument to the extremes of pop, this album makes up in good times what it lacks in depth.

Glistening with an effervescence impossible to ignore, Dirt Bike Annie sports some of the biggest and sharpest vocal hooks in the business. Emphasizing its vocal elements, the band’s songs manage to be surprisingly catchy despite the lack of technical flair in its songs. Regardless of the band’s lack of complex multi-part vocal harmonies or elaborately crafted instrumental melodies, it manages to pull off its aggressively poppy sound through sheer exuberance alone. It’s exactly that sense of excitement and lack of contrived musical theatrics that gives the band its success.

From the ultra-sweet vocal track of "All Systems Go" to the sharp power of "88 Christopher Street," to the unavoidably catchy "Are You Ready to Dance?" the band’s sense of fun and pure excitement brim over on its most successful songs, pulling anyone without a Grinch-like, two-sizes-small heart into their world of smiles.

Just like Kool-Aid made with twice the sugar can taste great at times and sickeningly sweet at others, Dirt Bike Annie’s fare may prove too sweet for regular consumption by anyone without a giant sweet tooth. Don’t go looking for crap tracks on this album, there simply aren’t any. The band’s unwavering devotion to pop makes each song individually stunning, though when strung together Hit the Rock! lacks much depth. Pop isn’t only about fun, fun, fun until daddy takes the guitar away; there’s depths worth exploring outside of shameless, giddy good times the band plumbs for its fare. Notwithstanding the band’s lack of diverse fare, this record proves to be a fun spin, though like cheap champagne, it’s a treat best enjoyed in moderation.

- Aversion.com