Off With Their Heads / Four Letter Word

One For The Road [7 inch] (2007)

Ben_Conoley

There's a simple logical explanation as to why I am listening to a split 7" between Off With Their Heads and Four Letter Word. The Fest is in three months. The Fest is in Gainseville. No Idea Records is based out of Gainesville. No Idea Records put out this 7" between bands who come from areas that are also home to bands that are largely responsible for the Gainesville sound (Four Letter Word = England = Leatherface. Off With Their Heads = Minneapolis = Dillinger Four).

See, it's simple.

Off With Their Heads kick things off with a "For the Four." The song is a bouncy romp complete with what one would come to expect from the band. Despite the fuzzed out sound and vocals that have to be attached to a beard, the song still shows a great deal of melody, mostly thanks to its bass line, chorus and perfectly timed pauses. The band's second song, "At Least I Know," follows suit and although it's a shorter song, it'll leave one with ample time to spill their Pabst Blue Ribbon all over their shirt while keeping pace. Although the band has a new full-length, if you've got a record player and a couple extra bucks, it wouldn't hurt throwing this in the "to buy" pile.

Things pick up with Four Letter Word as they take over on the other side of the record. With a faster, cleaner, sound, the band's first song, "Yesterday's News" sounds as though they're taking queues equally from Bad Religion and Satanic Surfers. They have bleaker lyrics than Off With Their Heads, but between "I don't give a fuck what you say or think or do" and other condemnations of modern politics and media, they still manage to throw in enough melody to keep you resetting the needle.