"Listening to this album I've decided to kick myself around the room repeatedly for the rest of the day. How I could manage to be at a recent Death from Above gig too late to catch these five Canadians from Toronto (they supported on the whole tour). This is a welcome reminder to take in the support band as often as you can. 'History' is a six track mini-album and a welcome release on Sink and Stove Records, although the band have been building an 'off the wall' live reputation in Canada since 2003. The sound and the playing here is so 'of the moment' it's almost an instantly familiar listen since we are currently tuned to those late 70s and early 80s post-punk grooves of PIL and Gang of 4. At least CC do not shy away from acknowledging their influences. The bass and drums are truly rock solid in their white-funk meandering and with this backbone the twin guitars can afford to be lively and inventive. They twist and turn around each other exchanging melodic and dissonant lines and riffs, taking turns to play angular and (punk) rock jabs or artrock single note lines. It's actually refreshing to hear a band confident enough to use instrumental passages through-out. Of course what may prove make or break for CC is how well vocalist Nirmala Basnayake can squeeze a memorable vocal line from these backdrops. Right now she's midway between the San Franciscan no-wave of Erase Errata and the power punk of Kathleen Hanna or Corin Tucker. 'Bruised Broken Beaten' is a concise 2 minutes and as close as they get to a pop song. Basnayake delivers a hooky 'Somehow' tag over a Pretty Girls Make Graves type art-punk riff. 'Disco Blackout' follows and is another dark and moody groove which seems to be where the band are most comfortable. Had I seem them play I think Controller.Controller would have been firm favourites. I look forward to the next visit and full length album." - Artrocker

"Hailing from Ontario, Canada, grrrl fronted five-piece punksters Controller.Controller are the latest Canuck concern to take the sound of early '80's British bedsit gloom and infuse icy post punk soundscapes with an infectious dose of knee-knocking dance beats. Hot on the heels of countrymen such as Death From Above 1979, it's enough to make you wonder if someone's been slipping a vat of gurntastic MDMA into Niagara's bubbling froth. Because, led by vocalist Nirmala Basnayake and backed by the rigid, metronome frigidness of drummer Jeff Scheven, choice cut 'Watch' encapsulates all that is special about their debut mini-album. A jagged juxtaposition of The Slits' taut punk yelp and Public Image Ltd's death disco hoedown, this is the real sound of murder on the dancefloor. A vital introduction to this special new band and, by the time their debut long player hits in the spring, we'll know the dance steps by heart." - New Musical Express

"It's not just UK bands like Franz Ferdinand plundering '80's artrock booty. this Canadian quintet have perfected the looping rhythms, abrasive off beat guitar and wandering basslines that PiL and Gang of Four pioneered, and slapped a narky girl at the front. Ace." - Guitar and Bass Magazine

"Well, it's nearly an album, all six songs of it; maybe they can get away with that sorta thing in Toronto, but for the rest of us we're a bit pissed off we don't get more of a chance to explore the left-field disco-nodding distorted post-punk jagged jive that veers between the compelling and the balletic. 'Let's re-write your history' they offer. And with the funkiest of grooves underpinning the contrariness of the spastic-handed florid guitar grumbles, this lot may yet get their way. It's an intriguing, fizzing melange of energy and puppy-drowning, droney vocals that many strive for and stride toward, but rarely do they achieve it with this sorta panache. Expect this to be hammered on the radio very, very soon. And if it isn't, I'll eat Jah Wobble's hat." - Unpeeled

"As if anticipating the mood, Controller.Controller provide a slinky concoction of The Go Team and The Bravery, shaken and stirred with a dash of brief Sonic Youth chaos intermissions. Frankly startling with a lovely frontwoman determined to lull facially hairy teens into a false sense of arousal." - Artrocker

"Five-piece Toronto outfit, Controller.Controller, are the latest mob to join the post-punk rat race. More than just another punk-funk band, though, they seem immediately capable of overriding the hype. Here at least they offer a genuinely exciting record. The usual old school references are dotted throughout this debut (PiL – check, Gang Of Four – check, Joy Division – check), but distinctive female vocals (courtesy of Nirmala Basnayake), some serious attitude, dancefloor-aimed death grooves and a sense of the apocalyptic all make for a thrilling ride." - BBC Collective

"With all the combustible punk-funk of Moving Units, they're thankfully fronted by a pint-sized pixie called Nirmala Basnayake who injects some much needed oestrogen into the band's dissonant stylings. During the descending bassline of 'Sleep Over It' she husks like an experienced temptress, 'Are you gonna come over?' and it's an invitation hard to resist." - Good For Nothing

"Combining driving guitars and disco basslines with some looser, more rocky grooves, vocalist Nirmala Basnayake carries the tracks sounding like a feral Debbie Harry. Cult success!" - Rip & Burn

"Back when Hot Hot Heat put Vancouver on the map with their dance infused punk-rock, most of us quite rightly expected a double revolution. The first involved the uncovering of a wealth of grossly overlooked Canadian talent. The second, if hits like the ridiculously infectious 'Bandages' were any clue, was a return to rock you could strut your stuff to. With the 'Heat's return imminent, it looks like that prophesy is to finally be fulfilled, especially if Toronto's Controller.Controller come along for the ride. In the awkwardly uplifting punk-funk of 'Sleep Over It' or the desperately dark and sultry 'History', the irrepressibly cool guys and gal are taking the electro rock blueprint to a bold, albeit unsettling, new place. By simultaneously indulging in a love of Joy Division whilst nodding towards chart appeal a la Franz Ferdinand they're about to put, not just a genre, but an entire country back on track." - Rock Sound

"One of the best new bands we've heard lately. Rhythmically off-funk, post-punk of the darkest hue, coming somewhere inbetween Souixsie and the Banshees, The Slits and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs." - Nighshift

"Controller.Controller have pulled together a deftly funky debut, as full of thoughtful songcraft as pure kinetic energy. And that’s really what separates ‘History’ from the dance-rock pack—it’s not just something to sweat to, it’s something to sing along to and something to come back to. 8.3. " - Pitchfork

"Sceptical readers are entirely justified in an age where ‘the next Rapture’ is as ubiquitous a rock critic cliché as the egregious ‘American Radiohead’, but listen up: Controller.Controller is one of the most promising dance-punk acts out there. ‘History’ is a twenty-four minute document of a group brimming with shakeworthy bass lines, replete with commanding punk riffing and a knack for surprisingly memorable melodies. Believe the hype" - Stylus Magazine

"A superb debut ‘History’ is quick, relentless, and instantly memorable, not letting up for one minute. The title track is dark and hypnotic; ‘Bruised Broken Beaten’ combines a jittery guitar riff, a punchy beat, and the unlikely rave-up chorus of "V-one-five-point-eight-five" (according to the band, it's a medical chart code for a certain sexual dysfunction). The fabulous ‘Disco Blackout’, though, is the CD's standout; the band delivering a dark, pounding sound, the most intense they've sounded on the record, as Basnayake sneers away, seeming to address her American neighbours: "You wanna hear about parallels/ How about the 49th/ What keeps you down there?/ What keeps you up at night?". Evoking the feeling of a sweltering summer night, she then sings, "This city's getting so hot/ They're gonna cut the lights," perhaps an allusion to the great Eastern Seaboard blackout of 2003, repeating the line like a mantra. It feels so tightly wound, on the verge of frantic, the kind of exhilarating music that can incite an entire room full of people to move. Controller.Controller are indeed the band to watch." - Pop Matters