Remember when the Dropkick Murphy's were good, when they were still a bunch of drunken rabble-rousers instead of highbrow hooligans cashing in on the idea that if you give any goon a Guinness or Smitwicks, it'll make them Irish? Can't remember that far back? It's been a few years. Want a refresher on what good, rowdy, bar friendly punk rock sounds like? Then do yourself a favor, go to you local record store and pick up Off With Their Heads' newest album From the Bottom.
Oh you've heard that name before? Then once you hear this record you'll ask yourself the same question that I did: Why did I sleep on this band? Take one listen to this Minneapolis band and it's clear they spent their teenage years falling asleep in class, slacking off at work, and hating everyone with their only salvation being cheap beer and Dillinger Four.
When you hear that first punchy bass line bouncing you up and down coupled with singer Ryan's guttural rasp of a voice, I can't help but pump my fist in the air, waiting for the "Oi! Oi! Oi!" But they never come. On the first few listens, I swear I'm listening to a street punk album. "Go On Git Now" sounds like a ballad crooned by a Hellcat band and the drums on "I Hope You Know" sound almost like a Celtic band, something you'd hear on Do or Die or a Flogging Molly album. Still this is undeniably pop. Think Fifteen without the politics or being so drawn out or Dillinger Four devoid of humor. The melodies are single note guitar lines backed by power chord progressions. This is the classic No Idea sound.
Even the most obtuse listener will tell that vocalist and lyricist Ryan Young is not a happy man. Nearly every song delivers itself like a refute or a plea about depression and the pain it causes a person and all those around. In the opener "I Am You", Young understands his condition, and says while it pains him, he's no different than anyone else. "I'm everything you swore you'd never be." Ten Years Trouble features the simplest, but saddest line I've heard in some time: "I'm always in pain and almost always in pain." I hate to hear a man this sad, but if it makes for an album as great as this, then gloom it up.
From the Bottom is seriously one of the best albums I wasn't expecting this year.
