Review: Off With Their Heads- "From the Bottom"

Yeah, this album was released a while ago, but I didn't really get into Off With Their Heads until very recently, which I regret. Any time someone told me about them, they would just give me the same two adjectives: Depressing pop-punk band. Though pop-punk is probably my favorite form of music (more on that another time), it's been hard for me to take the "depressing" part with a grain of salt and dive in. Odds are if you're saying something is "depressing" in pop-punk, you're usually thinking of some kid in an unfortunate haircut talking about high-school girlfriends or going suicidal because mom and dad tell you to go to school. After inadvertantly hearing "Theme Song" by Off With Their Heads at a friends' house, though, I knew there was something special about them.

Oddly enough, with all of the talk in OWTH's involving depression, loneliness, drug use, messed-up relationships, etc., the last term I'd use to describe their music would be "depressing." Though the lyrical content is morose, the difference between it and modern "emo" rock problems, is that OWTH's songs are very relatable in their lyrical content. When many bands speak of doom and gloom about trivial, banal trials, it's almost laughable that the performers even consider that they should even be screaming and whining, and makes their outpourings and cries for help almost tragically comic. But when you hear Ryan Young belt out the words to any of the songs, you can tell that the man knows what he wants to say, and loves the form in which he expresses it, making the songs relatable and appealing to the point where you feel a serious appeal to the music to a point where the morosity brings a sort of comfort that's hard to describe.

Enough about the lyrics, though. Everyone has commented on them, and while it is a plus, they have so much going for them to just peg them as a depressing band. Music-wise, they are pure awesomeness. Every member is featured in the sound. If you've ever listened to any other high-powered, chunky pop-punk band like Dillinger Four or Bouncing Souls, you'll automatically feel welcome. Harmonized vocals with multiple singers, full-sounding distorted guitars, and a chunky ol' Rickenbacker bass weaving in and out. Mid-west pop-punk bliss. Again, though, the highlights are Ryan's vocals. The man just belts it out on every song, and you can feel that he means every word, as his emotions match the words and the meanings. He doesn't hold back anywhere, and is to me the defining sound of the band that just makes it all pure awesome.

It's not a perfect formula, though. It's got that bad habit many punk bands have where the guitars don't differ much in sound between tracks. Not an inherently bad thing, but having the same distortion, same sound level, etc. through multiple consecutive tracks doesn't help to distinguish one track other greatly from another, disallowing too many stand-out tracks, which is a shame, because they all had the potential to be very quality, if the recorder could just ask the guitarist to ease off the distortion here, or create a small guitar hook here or there. Hell, "Until the Day I Die" basically sounds like every other track, but they added in a nice guitar melody between verses that keeps it going well, and reminds you that you've transitioned from the previous track.

The other large complaint would definitely be part of the reason that OWTH's work is most appealing: the lyrics. There is talent them, there's no arguing that. I'd just like to see them hold back on the swearing for a while. There are F-bombs in almost every track, which is fine, and at times is a great why to pound out a sentence with enthusiasm, such as in the ending line in "Until the Day I Die" with the line "And I'll never let it go/I'll just let it grow/Until the day I die I fucking swear I'm gonna make your life as miserable as mine." It's great, and throws down the emotional investment in that particular line, but it's unfortunately cheapened by constant usage to the point where it takes the sting out of many of the lines that thrive on the colorful language.

Complaints aside, I heartily recommend From the Bottom to any punk fans, from followers of pop to hardcore. It's just a hard-rockin' album with fun melodies and great sing-a-long lyrics. If you can get over some of the lack of track diversity or some gratingly immature lines, then you'll find a solid, listenable, relatable album.

Recommended Listening: "I am you," "Until the Day I Die," "Self Check-Out,"