Feel The Freest by Hitting Birth: A 1995 Gem Worth Rediscovering
If you’re into the kind of music that feels like it’s been dragged through a gritty industrial machine but still somehow sparkles with pop sensibilities, Feel The Freest by Hitting Birth might just be your jam. Released in 1995 under Will Records, this album is a wild mashup of rock, pop/rock, and alternative vibes with dashes of industrial grit. It's not perfect—heck, it doesn’t even try to be—but that’s part of its charm.
The band throws everything at the wall here: saxophone wails, harmonica solos, crunchy guitars, and Daniel Riddle doing basically half the work (seriously, dude plays bass, keys, percussion, sings… what CAN’T he do?). And while some tracks feel a bit scattered, others hit hard enough to stick in your brain for days. Let me tell ya about two standouts.
First up is "Metatron." Man, this one grabs you by the collar right from the start. The guitar riff has this raw energy that makes you wanna thrash around in your living room—or maybe that’s just me. What really gets me though are the layered vocals. You’ve got Shannon and Carii chiming in on backing vocals, adding this haunting depth that lingers long after the song ends. Plus, Jerry Ostrem busts out both sax AND harmonica? Bold move, but it works. It’s chaotic yet oddly cohesive, kinda like life itself.
Then there’s "Pie," which honestly sounds like what would happen if a grunge band decided to make a quirky anthem about… well, pie. Who knows what they were thinking when they wrote this track, but I’m glad they did. It’s got this loose, garage-rock vibe that feels unpolished in the best way possible. David Parks’ drumming keeps things tight, while Drew Canulette’s mixing gives it an almost lo-fi charm. By the time you get to the chorus, you’ll probably find yourself humming along—even if you don’t know why.
One thing I gotta say—the production crew deserves props. John Golden mastering this beast must’ve been no small feat, given how all over the place it is. Same goes for Lance Limbocker engineering the madness and multiple mixers keeping things somewhat sane. Oh, and shoutout to Eric Stotic for the artwork because, let’s face it, we’ve all judged albums by their covers at least once.
Looking back, Feel The Freest feels like a snapshot of a very specific moment in ‘90s music—a little rough around the edges, full of experimentation, and unapologetically weird. Sure, it won’t appeal to everyone, but isn’t that the point?
Honestly, listening to this album felt like finding an old VHS tape in your attic—you’re not sure what’s on it, but once you press play, you can’t stop watching. So yeah, give it a spin. Just don’t blame me if “Pie” gets stuck in your head for weeks.
P.S. Fun fact: Did anyone else notice there are two tracks called "WWW"? Maybe it was their early attempt at SEO?
