The Hitmen
ToRa Tora DTK

LA RECENSIONE

Tora! Tora! Tora!

On December 7, 1941, the "Occhi-A-Mandorla" bombed the Yankees lounging in Hawaii with the cry "Tora! Tora! Tora!". Literally, it means “tiger” but in slang, it indicates a lightning attack. Translated into German, it’s blitzkrieg. The Ramones, who are not German, debut with “Blitzkrieg Bop”, so everything makes sense and I’m jotting down a few lines of good old punk'n'roll.

“Tora Tora DTK” is the live album with which the Hitmen bid farewell to and thank relatives, friends, and benefactors.

Who the Hitmen are is quickly explained, essentially an offshoot of the crème de la crème of late-Seventies Australian rock: they encompass a bit of everything and more, remnants of Radio Birdman, Hoodoo Gurus, Lime Spiders, Celibate Rifles and whoever you can think of.

A certain Johnny Kannis is promoting the initiative, who cut his teeth as the master of ceremonies with the Birdmen, whatever that means, before striking out on his own and doing his part to inflame the antipodes.

The Hitmen are his most beautiful creation.

They don’t last very long – two or three years – releasing a few singles and a couple of LPs but the impact is monumental. The sound is a blend of surf, power pop in the manner of the Groovies and hard-punk-rock, and their debut album beautifully demonstrates this.

Then something bad happens: Johnny has a severe accident and nearly kicks the bucket. Since he's tough, tougher than rock, he survives and takes some time off to recover.

The Hitmen are on hold but nobody has forgotten them, quite the opposite.

To say thank you to everyone, Johnny decides to get the band back together for one summer only and tour Australia to make a grand exit.

The result is “Tora Tora DTK” and it’s an avalanche of adrenaline with few equals at the time – only “The First And The Last” by their fellow New Race.

It opens with “Rock’n’Roll Soldiers”, closes with “Solid As A Rock” and that's already something. Everything in between exalts the agenda with blazing passion for rock'n'roll and there’s a cover of “Shake Some Action” which is stunningly beautiful and “California Sun” which pairs up with the Ramone brothers' version. And then there's that “Didn’t Tell The Man” which is one of those tracks that alone justify an entire career. So when “Solid As A Rock” starts playing, it brings tears to your eyes, thinking about Johnny on his deathbed just a year earlier and about the superhuman strength and the miracle of rock’n’roll.

Beautiful record, give it a listen.