Perhaps this is what
Kiss fans felt like when the costumed rockers released the pop crossover attempt
Dynasty (forever known as "the album with the disco single on it") in 1979. After nearly a decade and a half of
Stooges and
MC5-inspired scuzz-rock stomp,
Head Off is a curiously clean, poppy, and fundamentally unexciting album's worth of cover songs. In their favor, the
Hellacopters should be commended for avoiding the time-worn
Pin Ups route (a la the
Ramones' weak
Acid Eaters) and recording old garage rock singles that everyone's already heard. The songs on
Head Off come from the pens of the
Hellacopters' friends, labelmates, tour partners, and other contemporaries, shining a light on some lesser-known acts in the international garage rock underground like Australia's
Asteroid B-612, L.A.'s
Humpers, and several of the other bands on Stockholm's local scene as
the Hellacopters themselves were just starting out. Somewhat better known acts like the
BellRays, the
Gaza Strippers, and the
New Bomb Turks are also represented, but the anodyne, sterile sound of
Head Off does none of the songs any favors. It isn't surprising that the
Hellacopters announced that they were breaking up concurrent with the album's release. ~ Stewart Mason
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