Controller.Controller
History EP
(Paper Bag Records)
The first couple of times that I listened to History, I simply thought that all the songs sounded too similar for the release to really stick out. Then, I realized that I kept putting the release into my CD player and knew it was because the short release had wiled its way into my head. Even now when I listen to the disc, I have to admit that the 6 songs (and one intro) and 24 minutes of music on the release all sort of just glide into one another, but the group definitely has something going on here that makes it stick out.
I guess you could call it dance-punk or "death disco" as the group refers to it, but there's no denying that this is one hyper-catchy release. After a warmup of gurlging electronics, the steady thump of a kick drum drops and there's no turning back on the album-titled opener of "History." Rubbery basslines propel things forward and shards of guitar strike on key moments while lead singer Nirmala !!!!!! lets loose with vocals that sound like Blondie when her head was still in it. "Silent Seven" sounds like it's going to take things down a few notches for a little bit, then bursts with a chorus section that bursts forth with aggressive guitars and more great vocal melodies.
The only track that doesn't really follow the thump-thump forward progress formula is "Bruised Broken Beaten" and it's just enough of a changeup that it injects a bit of freshness into the release without straying too far from what makes it so good. After "Disco Blackout" dissolves into a wash of gurgling electronics and static, it's the closer of "Watch" that makes me once again think that there might be something with this whole dancepunk movement after all. Although the group will probably have to inject a couple more wrinkles into their sound to make things hold up on a full-length, this shorter release is still one of the better things I've heard come out of the genre in some time (The Rapture and !!! included).
Rating: 7.5
