It’s not quite the same as getting to see two of the best bands playing in Australia over the past few years live in Berlin finally but it’s close, very close. Close as in Mikey Young from Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Dan Stewart and Alistair Montfort from UV Race are part of the band, guaranteeing a performance which just might make all others this year pale into insignificance.
Over a series of singles leading up to the release of this year’s debut LP, Henge Beat, Total Control have built up quite a following over the past few years and make it to Europe finally for a tour and hopefully another memorable show at the lovely Marie-Antoinette. All after they’ve toured across the U.S., with Thee Oh Sees…expect their live show to be a well-oiled machine of awesome.
Here’s a couple of songs, The Hammer and One More Tonight:
The supremely-titled TOTAL CONTROL epitomise everything great about punk: a restless musical spirit and a deep disdain for social networking. Composed of members from various Melbourne indie outfits (UV Race, Eddy Current Suppression Ring et al), the band’s primitive synth-punk singles and already-legendary live show will see them tour around the US and UK including an appearance at All Tomorrow’s Parties at the invitation of Les Savy Fav
Total Control came together over shared love of the more unsettling end of punk music: Wire, Devo, the Screamers. Over the course of two years the band released four singles, each becoming increasingly minimal and electronic based, from synth punk to cold wave to primitive disco. ‘Henge Beat’, their new LP was recorded in the Australian summer of 2011, the songs a cohesion of sounds from each of their previous singles.
