Russell HughesOff With Their Heads have announced details of their new album Be Good and released the first single from it, Disappear.
The record will be out via Epitaph Records on August 16th, but for now fans will have to content themselves with this first taste of new music.
Directed by Jonah Ray, the video for Disappear features comedian Kyle Kinane and is about accepting the fact that we’re all sad all of the time.
While other music fails to accept this and as a result feels like one long complaint, Off With Their Heads are all about embracing it.
“All the other records were about moping around and feeling sorry for yourself,” says frontman Ryan Young. “This one is less about feeling sorry for yourself and more about accepting how goddamn miserable you are.”
Bassist Robbie Smartwood, guitarist John Polydoros, drummer Kyle Manning and Young recorded the album at The Hideaway in Minneapolis – but decamped to Pachyderm Studios for some of the takes. Pachyderm is a mid-century mansion that’s steeped in rock history – Nirvana recorded In Utero there.
Young produced Be Good himself, but didn’t exactly enjoy the process. “I don’t like how the old records sound, and I hate recording so much,” he said. “You could just hear all the dumb shit on them where I was like, whatever, just let it go, I want to get out of here.”
Forced acceptance is a big theme of Be Good, though it’s a hard-learned one, often emerging in the form of primal screams in the band’s trademark style of gruff-punk.
Trying to find a life outside of music has been important for the band, and even though touring and playing shows is a big part of that, writing new materials comes from life experiences and Young’s has changed for the better by not being on the road so much.
“Not being on the road 250 days a year, actually trying to develop some sort of life outside of playing shows and drinking, you’d be surprised what that does,” he says.
Current UK and EuropeanOff With Their Heads tour dates:
31-08 | UK | London | New Cross Inn
01-09 | UK | Stafford | Redrum
03-09 | UK | Glasgow | Audio
04-09 | UK | Manchester | Rebellion
05-09 | UK | Bristol | Exchange
06-09 | BE | Antwerp | Hangar 27
07-09 | DE | Lennestadt | Rockade Festiwoll
08-09 | DE | Hannover | Faust (Mephisto)
10-09 | AT | Linz | STWST
11-09 | AT | Vienna | Arena (3Raum)
12-09 | DE | Nuremberg | Kantine
13-09 | DE | Berlin | Cassiopeia
14-09 | DE | Emsdetten | Detten Rockt
15-09 | DE | Cologne | Helios 37
17-09 | DE | Leipzig | Werk 2
18-09 | DE | Hamburg | Semtex (formerly “Menschenzoo”)
19-09 | NL | Haarlem | Patronaat
20-09 | FR | Paris | Gibus Live
21-09 | CH | Lausanne | Inhumano Fest
22-09 | DE | Trier | Lucky’s Luke