Off With Their Heads – In Desolation

“Off With Their Heads might be the best punk band going right now. Epitaph needs them; music needs them,”  so said Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph head honcho Brett Gurewitz when he announced the signing of Minneapolis’ Off With Their Heads. With such high praise being thrown at them from one of the forefathers of punk while riding on the heels of their critically acclaimed 2008 albumFrom The Bottom, Off With Their Heads have a lot to live up to. Luckily, mere seconds into their Epitaph debut, In Desolation, the band is able to live up to those lofty expectations and prove that yes, they just might be the best punk band going right.

In Desolation is thirty four minutes of thundering, bass heavy punk anthems topped off with a gravelly vocalist wallowing in self pity. It merges together for a perfect call to arms for all the misfits, freaks and outcasts of the world as Ryan Young’s poetically miserable lyrics reach through the speakers and grab onto everyone in ear shot. The lyrics are blunt and direct, delivered with a no bull-shit attitude that is mirrored in the angst filled rhythm.

Yet, there is something starkly beautiful in Young’s words. There’s the call to arms sing along of Their Own Medicine (To everyone that’s been a victim / That’s something I understand / And if you’re looking for a reason / You got one in each hand / I’d love to see us take back what they took from us / Give them some of their own medicine) that sees Young effortlessly tear away the barrier between fan and band. On The Eyes of Death he pulls out a series of couplets that would make Edgar Allen Poe jealous with I’ve seen things that’ll make your eyes burn / I’ve seen the eyes of death through a loved one dying /  And once you’ve seen this you’re not the same / Taste what was once was good and turn it to pain.

Every song sees a man questioning his place in life, recalling past mistakes and failures while searching for an answer deep within. It’s the same thing The Gaslight Anthem does on American Slang – only without hiding behind all the New York imagery.

While the lyrics and vocal delivery are pretty much always the highlight, Off With Their Heads remain a complete band and continue to create some of the best beer-soaked pop-punk ever written. ThinkDillinger Four, think Jawbreaker, think The Briggs, think Alkaline Trio. This is dark and heavy pop-punk, polished just enough to give it a full sounding body. There’s not always a ton of variation, but it doesn’t need to be and when they do switch it up (see the piano-tinged ballad My Episodes or the sparse Clean The Air), it makes it that much more striking.

The best band in punk rock may be a bit lofty, but Off With Their Heads are definitely up there. Don’t let this one squeak by.