I love it when an album opens with a call to action. Of course, that call should feel urgent and authenthic to actually strike a chord. Come Alive, the title track of the new Outtacontroller is exactly that. “Are you still here? Do you still care?,” Outtacontroller wonders. It’s a rhetorical question. I mean, it must be right? A new Outtacontroller record? Plenty of reason to get excited, because these Canadians (Halifax, Nova Scotia to be precise) always deliver. Most importantly, an abundance of hooks.
Come Alive is no exception. By now, you should be familiar with the main ingredients of an Outtacontroller release: garage powerpop with pushy urgent drumming, simple but effective guitar riffing and the delayed (but guaranteed!) gratification of killer hooks. Come Alive delivers on all fronts without ever feeling redundant of like a been there done that record. Outtacontroller sound like they are just getting started, like they can’t wait to get your garage party started. The hits on Come Alive are too many to highlight. Here are a couple of personal favorites though: Time To Crash (prototypical Outtacontroller), Hit And Run (those sweet guitar licks!), Show Me How It’s Done (glammy and earwormy), and Hanging Over You (sooooo catchy).
Outtacontroller has been teasing some of these songs in the past 18 months or so, and Come Alive definitely makes good on the promise of those tracks. Come Alive is another win for Outtacontroller. It is out now, and currently appears to be streaming only – which kinda worries me, since I’d like to add it to the collection soonish…guys?
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
