When I first got into hardcore, I was exposed to the old shit'you know, Bad Religion, 7 Seconds, Minor Threat, DI'the stuff from when people still realized that hardcore IS punk. Slowly, as metal began to invade the scene, hardcore and punk split into, what seem today, two completely different genres. In Control bring it back to the old school, not afraid to call themselves punk rock. In fact, it's not odd to see punk kids and hardcore kids sharing the dance floor.
The album isn't too much of a departure from their last album, Another Year, except that it is a bit more aggressive and furious. My guess is that when they wrote this album, they were sick of all the sissy metalcore junk coming out of their neighbor city, Orange County, and wanted to bring back the energetic craziness of old Nardcore (hardcore from Oxnard, CA) bands like Ill Repute, Stalag 13, and Scared Straight. They definitely succeeded in that respect.
The band even re-released their hardest and fastest track "Give Me Some Reality" the cynic's answer to the ultra-posi youth crew movement. You just can't go wrong with the following lyrics: "You say 'positive' / I say 'Fuck that!' / You say 'positive' / I say 'Fuck that!' / Give me some reality / Give me some reality." It's quite interesting, even, that the band's best friends were in Diehard Youth, the generally positive So Cal. band. Even more interesting are the two breaks into melodic sing-a-longs in the album. They are "Sixteen Years" and "Once Upon a Town," the latter being a follow-up to their classic "Two Towers," songs about hometown pride.
The songs on this album are a great release, but they are so much better when performed live. In fact, the band is just about to wrap up some of their last shows ever. Everyone in California should attend at least one. I promised any patron who does will not regret it. Todd Jones (from Carry On/Terror) has been playing bass and they've gotten a second guitar player to substitute Zack's dual-Marshall assault, which was quite a sight to see. But the constant member changes, while producing the best In Control line-up ever, have hindered the band from doing so much more and they have collectively decided to call it for quits. Hit them up now and you can get this album for $5, which is well worth it. In fact, that's the steal of the century, if you ask me, for such a strong hardcore record.
