Acoustic albums from a punk band or solo artist are typically “hit or miss.” A lot of the time they just don't really compare to the band’s electric-based records. Of course there are exceptions. For example Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music has put out some really great acoustic solo albums like Covering Ground. A lot of the time artists fail to distinguish their acoustic songs from others, which granted can be tough to do when it is just one person singing and playing the chords alone. But when it comes to Off With Their Heads’ acoustic record Won’t Be Missed this is definitely not the case and they, like Chuck Ragan, are one of the exceptions of punk artists that have written a great acoustic record.

Instead of writing brand new songs for Won’t Be Missed Off With Their Heads picked a pretty wide-ranging variety of tracks from their catalogue and translated them from full band to an acoustic duo. The raw emotional intensity that OWTH is known for was not lost in that translation at all. Sure acoustic guitars don’t exactly have the same effect electric ones do, but Ryan Young’s vocals through out the album are arguably more intense on these versions than the originals and more than make up for the absent distortion. When Ryan yells “God dammit I’m falling a part” during “Clear The Air” you can really feel his anger and frustration. And keep in mind that the songs on Won’t Be Missed don't just consist of vocals and guitars. The band took the time to add some other instruments in that are not found on the original versions. “Clear The Air” has some very heavy piano accents in it, a tambourine can be heard during “Go On Git Now” and some there is pretty gloomy slide guitar in “Stolen Away.”

Won’t Be Missed a really great addition to the OWTH discography. It not only stands out amongst their catalogue, but it also stands out amongst acoustic punk records in general. Fans will be very pleased with it.