Off With Their Heads

While Epitaph Records dominated the '90s when it came to punk rock, the new millennium brought about a new sound: emo and its bastard stepchild, screamo. Epitaph signed hoards of bands in the wake of the genre's explosion, but label head Brett Gurewitz always maintained he would sign a punk band again once he found one that excited him. Cue the Minneapolis-based group Off With Their Heads. The quartet cut its teeth on Florida's No Idea Records but never really fit in with that label's beardcore-heavy roster because it focused on sub-three-minute (and occasionally sub-two-minute) slam-bang punk-rock action. Frontman Ryan Young recently put down his guitar so the band could add a second axman; as a result, the band's stage presence has increased dramatically with the upgrade to Epitaph and this year's In Desolation. Off With Their Heads might not fit on the Vans Warped Tour, but the band is the perfect addition to your local dive bar of choice.