In Desolation
Epitaph
www.myspace.com/offwiththeirheads
‘In Desolation’ is OWTH‘s debut for Epitaph, with Mr Brett himself personally endorsing these Minneapolis Punkers, and with good reason.
I’ve seen OWTH a couple of times (they’ve toured the UK twice) and liked them a lot. As for their recorded output, I have a couple of seven inches, and the previous LP ‘From The Bottom’, which although quite good, did not exactly blow me away. So, I stuck this disc in the player, and was ready to be… well… entertained. Here’s hoping!
Hey… wait… the opening number ‘Drive’ is fantastic! And song # 2 ‘My Own Medicine’ has literally grabbed me by the throat… “if your looking for a reason, you got one in each hand” – yeah! Jeez, not just entertained, blown away!!! Wow! By song # 4 ‘ZZYZX’ I’m rocking to the OWTH sound, big time, all the way through to closing number ‘Clear The Air’. This is bloody excellent!! It’s been on repeat in my stereo for days…
This is a magnificent collection of rough edged melodic Punk, and Ryan Young’s craggy vocals cut through like a power saw. This hits me with a wave of general feel-goodness, as when I heard Avail, Dillinger 4 and Hot Water Music for the first time. And the songs Ryan sings might dwell on loss, loneliness and separation, but are anything but downbeat. And that’s the point; to cure the heartache and elevate the spirits through the music. Oh, they did mine!
A highly recommended album that’s a definite for my year-end Top Ten. OWTH are back on these shores in August, go see ‘em, sing your heart out…
Pete Craven