Fat Heaven – “Control The State” [Song Review]

Straight outta Brooklyn and into your eardrums comes the politically-minded punk that we so desperately need in times like this. The three rockers that comprise Fat Heaven recently unleashed their first full-length album, Tough Luck, and I decided to take a quick look at one of the album’s best tracks, “Control The State.”

“Control The State” grabs the listener with an effortlessly catchy chorus, and a compact first verse means that we hear it almost immediately. From there we get a tasteful, captivating call and response that helps the song downshift seamlessly into the second verse section, where the energy from the chorus is effectively transferred and stored in a low, quick guitar.

The raw musical energy of the song comes to a head in the brief bridge and outro sections, where the cool and collected vocals give way to some classic punk rock screaming. Since the lyrics often circle back to the frustration of feeling powerless in an oppressive, toxic political climate, the angry, agonized vocals here at the end feel like a perfectly appropriate cherry on top.

As city streets across the U.S. are flooded with protestors over the new president, I can’t help but feel that this song, and perhaps the Tough Luck record as a whole, would make a damn good soundtrack to these troubled times. Now go listen!

Run Time: 2:22
Release Date: November 25, 2016

Check out the song “Control the State”