A great blend of hardcore has been coming out of Buffalo, New York's scene the past few years, but I truly wish The Control had a legacy I could add to that list.

The formula looks great on paper. Cathartic yells reminiscent of Sick Of It All keep the tempo going over rawly-produced old-school influenced hardcore punk á la Kill Your Idols, and it's all held by lyrics that condemn the newest approach of constricting conformity and publicizing privacy. The theme is even utilized nicely by the grungy layout, sporting three-piece suits and lists of phone numbers. Too bad the band can't completely pull it off right.

To put it simply, the disc just doesn't keep my attention. Even with songs that never break the three-minute mark, and only ten tracks overall, there are several points which remind me of the five-minute instrumental track, "(And It's Sometimes Like It Will Never End)," that closed Give Up the Ghost's last album. It's not just the occasional instrumental either, but the vocal indecipherability that, perhaps, keeps the music distanced from me.

"Autofocus" is by far the best track, showing The Control in best form where the chorus's chant of "We're zooming in! And out! In! Out! In! Out! In in in in out out out out out!" puts forth a ridiculous ability to showcase catchy hardcore at its finest. No other track even comes close.

After three EPs, the band broke up last September. This full-length was released a few weeks later, but it's unfortunate that they were never able to take the great style they had and manipulate it to the point where it was actually interesting in more than one song. We can only hope the members go onto greater things.