Off With Their Heads / Morning Glory - Split 7" - Black Vinyl (/200)

Off With Their Heads / Morning Glory - Split 7" - Black Vinyl (/200), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Fat Wreck (2013)

I don't like all of the records Fat Wreck puts out, but over the years they've ended up with quite a few bands on their roster that I enjoy. Considering the mad scramble on their site that usually occurs when their limited colored vinyl variants go on sale, I've been pretty lucky over the years and I've been able to grab most of the records I wanted. For this split 7", it was actually the black vinyl version that was the most rare at only 200 copies, so of course that's the version I had to buy.

I do have a lot of Off With Their Heads 7"s. Seriously, I have a ton of these. I wouldn't call the songs on their side of this split essential, but they're pretty good. The first is a redone version of a song off their album Home called "Always Alone," though on this 7" it's called "Alone Again." It's kind of an acoustic take on the original, but not totally acoustic. It's good, but I like the original better. Their 2nd song is a Morning Glory cover; "Care Of Me." Not being familiar with the original I can't compare and contrast, but it's another OK song. Not bad, but nothing that really stands out.

The Morning Glory side of the record is a cover of the OWTH song "Nationality Anthem." This is pretty terrible. Their take on it turns it into something that sounds like one of those old late 80's early 90's skate punk bands. It just sounds weird to me.

It's a cool 7" that they were able to sell when they were on tour together. It's a record I need to keep my Off With Their Heads collection complete. However, It isn't something I see myself listening to particularly often.

Off With Their Heads - Care Of Me:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwB0BseBfhg

Morning Glory - Nationality Anthem:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dW6A20hfzw

Off With Their Heads - Home LP - Blue Vinyl (/700)

Off With Their Heads - Home LP - Blue Vinyl (/700), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Epitaph (2013)

Off With Their Heads is a band that I got the heads up on pretty early in their career. That was a good thing as they have been one of the most prolific punk rock bands I've come across in a while, just releasing scores of limited 7"s. That frantic pace has slowed up a little since they signed to Epitaph a few years ago, but it would sure be an intimidating task to try to start collecting all of their records now.

Unfortunately for some record collectors, Home is the type of record that will inspire many new fans to start hunting for all of these records. It's just that good. Everything that Off With Their Heads has been doing up to this point really culminates in Home, arguably the best record they have ever released. The songs are still undeniably punk rock, but with a more refined edge to the songwriting.

While the band has always had a knack for energetic music mixed with lyrics that are honestly kind of a bummer, Home really elevates this. Where before you might write off this formula as playing for irony, this record just has an air about it that just feels important; like the band really has something to say. It makes for a record that has staying power and warrants repeat listens. There is a lot of disposable music in the world these days, but off With Their Heads have crafted the kind of album that is meant to last.

I can't say enough good things about Home. It's overtaken From The Bottom as my favorite Off With Their Heads release and it's the kind of album that should make many more people sit up and pay attention to this band. I'm just glad I already have all their old 7"s; that quest is about to get messy for some people.

Off With Their Heads - Home:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcZMZxR9uxC_cMRcfMgqpOh7U8...

Off With Their Heads / Discharge - Split 7" - Black Vinyl & Red Vinyl /200

Off With Their Heads / Discharge - Split 7" - Black Vinyl & Red Vinyl /200, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Drunken Sailor Records (2011)

I like Off With Their Heads and I've been trying to have a complete collection of the most rare version of the first press of each of their records. This band will drive you to drinking if you try to collect all of the wacky variants out there. That being said, I never had planned to buy the black vinyl & the red vinyl for this one. The red was sold out, so I placed an order for the black with an American distro to save on shipping costs. Then a few more copies of the red went for sale on the label's website, so I had to grab one. I could think of worse things than having 2 copies of this record.

I like the Off With Their Heads song a lot more than most people seem to. Discharge is not my cup of tea at all, but you can check out both songs below: