Live: Off With Their Heads with Dear Landlord @ Knitting Factory 6.23.10

There was a time a couple three years ago when the prospect of an Off With Their Heads show was something that would make my month. Eight or ten shows in, their relentless touring schedule got me a little oversaturated and I found myself leaving before they played a couple times, owing to more desire to see their openers. Even the prospect of Dear Landlord as an opener had me one the fence unless there were going to be friends in tow. Then I got the surprisingly good new Epitaph record and figured I'd give the show a shot.

I rolled in as Dear Landlord was setting up. They were up in short order, opening with Motorcycle Helmet and prompting a small forest of fingerpointing. Any bastard union of Rivethead and The Copyrights is bound to be a good thing. I've been to a lot of Dear Landlord shows in the last couple years and they are rarely less than a good time. This night was no exception, everybody sounded great and the almost respectable crowd seemed to really enjoy them. Me, too.

So Off With Their Heads were up next. I tried to situate myself on Ryan's side failing to take into account that Ryan isn't playing guitar. I'm pretty sure recreational substances haven't precluded my realizing this beforehand, so I'd say this is a fairly new eventuality that has happened full-time in the wake of their signing to Epitaph. Ryan was in good spirits, joking off-mike with the crowd up front and openly soliciting coke for most of their maybe 35 minutes of set. The band was tight. Mostly new stuff, with a couple dips into earlier stuff but over in short order. Works for me. If history is any indication, OWTH will be playing three or four hundred shows behind In Desolation. You owe it to yourself to see them at least once. The band is tight as hell and Ryan's mercurial ways keep it interesting even if the set stays a little static. Keep tabs on the entertainment possibilities here.

R

Live: Off With Their Heads, Shellshag, Detournement, The Measure (SA), Go Sell Drugs at Death By Audio 12.3.8

I was hedging on going to this show. It's cold and Off With Their Heads have really been phoning it in as of late, plus the order of the lineup had changed like three times since the show had been posted, but I figured I'd see The Measure and check out why the kids were making so big of a deal about Detournement, then make an early evening of it.

So I arrived at Death By Audio to what I thought was Detournement, but was yet another x-factor: the unnannounced band that was Go Sell Drugs. Evidently one of the dudes from I-Farm is in the fold. Either way, they were pretty decent. Sort of a Dischord vibe (with at least two haircuts to match). Thrashy guitar, pummelling drums, picked Rickenbacker bass. I'd like to see them with Psyched To Die. They didn't play that long, but did give away free copies of their record American Handjob. Maybe next time they will actually get listed on the bill.

The Measure (SA) were up next. They are definitely a decent band. I still contend that the silly overly tattooed guy who can't stop jumping should be excised from the franchise with the quickness.I'd also like to know why he didn't make eye contact with anybody else in the band for the entire set, but save for that quibbling it was a pretty good set. They've got a new singles comp you probably have heard about. Pick it up here. Now, let's get cracking on that line-up change, willya.

Detournement batted third, playing their first show in Brooklyn and maybe their sixth or seventh overall. As the name may belie, there's a heavy ex-member contingent in the band, with dudes from Lifetime, Bigwig, The Ratchets and a million other bands. I guess the most shocking eventuality is that Mikey Erg isn't in the fold. Zak Kaplan fronts the band, sadly in a frontman only capacity. Not that they two guitarists they already have are bad, I am aggressively against the 'singer who just sings' phenomenon. Unless he is edge and drives the van, or David Lee Roth, there is no reason for that to happen. I didn't find anything especially remarkable about their set, but I'd like to hear the recorded stuff. And see Zak with a guitar on.

I didn't see any sign of the Shellshag kids and hoped that maybe OWTH would be going on next, but I was sadly denied. Shellshag are decent and definitely OG, but I wasn't in the mood. Off With Their Heads definitely seem to be in it for the cash recently. They've been on tour for the last five or six months pretty relentlessly and the enthusiasm level seems to drop with every show, at least on Ryan's part. I hear they played a short set, to boot, so I'm glad I bailed. Here's hoping that the shows with Dear Landlord (that start tonight in Philly) give them a kick in the ass. I'm not looking to travel down Charm City way to be bored.

R