Rockfreaks.net

Off With Their Heads

From The Bottom

Written by: PP on 15/12/2008 15:24:49

I'm only about six months late with the review of Off With Their Heads' debut album "From The Bottom", but better late than never, especially when it comes to awesome feel good punk rock that's as good for inciting a riotous party as it is for dancing frantically around your room no matter what the mood. This is 'street punk' at its best, no-frills, uncompromising, straight forward punk rock in the vein of The Briggs, Street Dogs and the like, 'working class punk' as some like to call it, all about the old school singalongs and ridiculously good bass lines.

Forget about stupid technicalities or anything else than three-chord punk, there's simply no need for it here. The guitars are straight forward and rough around the edges, and where that'd sometimes leave a longing for something more in a sound, their raspy, gritty vocalist more than fills that void with his full-of-feeling party-inducing voice, think halfway point between The Dropkick Murphys and The Briggs here. With the production being as rough as it is, the end result is a fun, vibrant sound of an underground scene that demands to be heard - why this type of music isn't "the next big thing" for major labels yet is a complete mystery to me.

The lyrics are heartfelt, dealing mostly with the shitty lives of the band members like in "I Am You" and "Keep Falling Down", but they are sung so cheerfully that it's difficult not to have a smile on your face over how optimistically these guys look at it. Every now and then political commentary sneaks in too, such as on the shortie "Terrorist Attack?" where the band are at their catchiest: "Don't fucking believe everything that you read, don't trust everything that you see in TV, subscriptions and ratings are all that they need, yeah!", and it's moments like these where the band is at their most enjoyable.

But most importantly, Off With Their Heads are just plain fun to listen to, nothing more, nothing less. They are one of those bands that just sounds freaking happy without having to flirt with pop almost at all.. if you find bands like Dropkick Murphys always a fun listen, then be sure not to miss "From The Bottom", a great debut album of a band which, by the sounds of it, will become a cult classic in no time.

Download: Terrorist Attack?, I Am You, 1612 Havenhurst
For the fans of: Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs, The Briggs, Dillinger Four
Listen: Myspace

Release date 22.07.2008
No Idea Records