Outtacontroller - Sure Thing

Outtacontroller has been around so long that it's kind of hard to believe that its new album Sure Thing is only its third full-length. The Halifax, Nova Scotia foursome was at the center of an incredible wave of Canadian-based powerpop/punk bands in the early 2010s. And while the band has customarily gone several years between albums, it has never really stopped being the quintessential buzz-saw punk/pop group. Longtime mainstays of the illustrious P. Trash Records (RIP), Outtacontroller have now turned up where almost every great powerpop/punk band eventually lands: Alien Snatch Records! Sure Thing does not mess with a winning formula. It sticks to Outtacontroller's signature style of power pop meets garage punk meets the almighty Ramones. The band delivers ten tracks of thumping punk pop that ought to be cranked loud in the car en route to a night of fun times. Sure Thing offers up a solid mix of Ramones-inspired punk tunes ("Glassy Eyes", "You For You"), powerful pop numbers ("Too Soon", "Operator"), and big hooky rockers ("Don't Need It") to get your head bobbing and your toes tapping. Singer/guitarists Terry A'hearn and James O'Toole handled the production themselves, and the record sounds absolutely great. Of course I'm a huge fan of this musical style, and Outtacontroller have put on a clinic on how to pull it off. Sometimes you don't need a band to reinvent the wheel. If you like good, simple punk tunes executed with energy and enthusiasm, you will be inclined to say that this is an album that very much lives up to its title.

  
-L.R.

https://aliensnatch.bandcamp.com/album/outtacontroller-sure-thing 
https://outtacontroller.bandcamp.com/album/sure-thing 
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