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
come from the pens of the
' 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
does none of the songs any favors. It isn't surprising that the
announced that they were breaking up concurrent with the album's release. ~ Stewart Mason