by Peter Thorn
Covert Contracts is a record that is rapid, precise, and ferocious in equal measure. Clocking in at just under 29 minutes, my immediate response was to go back to the beginning and start again, just in case I had missed anything. I hadn’t; its furious, direct, but also precise and with interesting musical influences woven throughout.
This release comes out on drummer Alex Lichtenauer’s own Get Better Records, which proudly states that it is “for the queers, by the queers,” and it is fair to say that this release does not fail to mince its words or pull its punches, in much the same manner as the label’s motto. The sound that Control Top have so effectively made their own on this release is fast-paced and with a distinct punk-heaviness, but without surrendering musicality. The quality of the bass playing from Ali Carter vibrates along with an impressive virtuosity, driving forward many of the songs, including the excellent “Chain Reaction.” The drumming from Lichtenauer manages to continue the relentless pace of the album - with all songs under four minutes, and most under three - but at times managing to sound like a more aggressive new wave style, a feeling further evoked by Al Creedon’s guitar, which finely balances musicality and the overall mayhem on the record.
There is not an inch of fat to be found here, and that lean, direct feel extends to the vocals and lyrics. Ali Carter’s shrieks and screams bring home a feeling of release from frustration and restriction. These themes come through strongly throughout Covert Contracts, with the power and emotion of tracks like “Office Rage,” pushing back against the stultifying nature of modern life (“Staring at a screen, Makes me itch and scream, Click click click click click, Makes me fucking sick”). Generic office boredom is by no means the only target, and elsewhere Carter howls “This culture’s got me in a chokehold” (“Straight Jackets”), and describes how she is “Scrolling on and on until sedation” (“Covert Contracts”).
It would be hard to think of how Carter could have achieved more of a sense of release on this record; it simply does not relent. Control Top have made a vital, impressive punk record, dripping with social, political and personal commentary. Despite its brevity, Covert Contracts also does present a lot of variety, and the musicianship on display is impressive and eclectic. The most striking thing about this record is its directness. From interviews the band have given one can see how the ideas of creating a connection with the audience, of honesty, and of doing something new and doing it with passion run through what they do. Covert Contracts certainly fulfills those criteria.