Recap: Off With Their Heads and PEARS at Brauerhouse

Phil Collins - March 24, 2015

PEARS

PEARS at Brauerhouse on Saturday

Off With Their Heads and PEARS stopped by Brauerhouse in Lombard on Saturday as part of a week and a half long tour of the Midwest. PEARS is one of the best new bands around, so if you have not gotten around to listening to their debut album Go To Prison, drop everything and listen to it right now. It placed second in Change the Rotation's best albums of 2014 bracket, only finishing behind Against Me!'s Transgender Dysphoria Blues.

PEARS' live performance on Saturday was phenomenal. They have been touring relentlessly in support of Go To Prison, so naturally they are super tight right now. During set-closer "Grimespree," lead singer Zach Quinn dropped to the ground during the song's quiet, foreboding interlude. He pitched and dipped and writhed up and down like a serpent as the music gradually picked up in inensity. It is telling that a band that specializes in fast hardcore songs can make a slower jam one of the top highlights of their performance.

They played most of the songs off Go To Prison including the 53-second banger "You're Boring," "Framework," "Terrible" and "Victim To Be." The crowd moshed and yelled, perhaps most vigorously during their cover of "Judy is a Punk" by The Ramones. Keep your eyes out for them, as I'm sure constant touring will bring them back to the Chicago area before long.

Off With Their Heads

Off With Their Heads at Brauerhouse on Saturday

While PEARS has been playing shows non-stop, Off With Their Heads has not toured at all in the last year. Last winter the band announced that while they were not breaking up, they were done touring on a regular basis. Seeing Off With Their Heads is now a more rare occassion. The show sold out, so obviously there is still plenty of enthusiasm for Off With Their Heads out there. The crowd sang along, stage dove and moshed throughout the set. Off With Their Heads played most of their most recent album, 2013's Home and smatterings of their other releases. From the Bottom remains my favorite album of theirs, although I have a very high opinion of Home (it made the Sweet 16 of Change the Rotation's best albums of 2013 bracket.) I often find myself cheerily humming the melody of "Fuck This, I'm Out" even though the song's lyrics are depressing. That might be the core of Off With Their Heads. Get charged up to face uncomfortable issues.