In all honesty, I find it rather surprising that Level Plane released this split.  Both bands play a style of hardcore that leans much more towards the metallic end of the spectrum, something not often found among the label’s roster.  While both bands recall great metal of the past, neither really innovates on their respective sounds.  Scarecrow offer the most promising material, sounding a bit like Metallica if they’d leaned more heavily on their punk influences.  While this split might fit more aptly among the Relapse Records catalogue, even then it wouldn’t be very noteworthy.
Level Plane Records

While I’ve never been much of a fan of live recordings, audio or visual, this DVD serves a lot of different ends.  First off, the control of it’s production by Harley Flanagan couldn’t be more obvious; from the use of his photographs throughout the layout to the bonus footage of his tour of CBGBs, Flanagan leaves little room for his (former) bandmates to shine… it’s almost laughable.  Beyond this, the set features him and John Joseph sharing the stage, a rare occurrence cherished by those familiar with their feud-like relationship.  And although the footage isn’t the most creatively captured, the performance demonstrates the band’s power that still rings decades after these songs were originally written.  Die hard fans will enjoy this most, but others can surely take something from it too.
MVD

Twelve tracks of saccharine falsetto over thickly-laid technopop mean that The Color Bars have made a less musically-interesting version of Beck’s “Sexxlaws.” Times twelve. The songs are not devoid of catchiness, but lack compelling-enough hooks to justify their instrumental construction, which sounds like an arbitrary racket of childrens’ toy instruments.
Paranoiac Records

The Weightlifters’ Last of the Sunday Drivers packs a lazy picnic of feel-good tunes that flow cheerily along its six-song duration. With plenty of tambourines, hammond organs, and “ooooooh” vocals, you’ll be smoothly sailing along with its lullaby-like sounds. Not really a tiger of an album or a profound piece of musical breakthrough, but an elegant enough soundtrack for days when you’re not up to bothering with breakthroughs.
self-released

Little Name’s How to Swim and Live, though nicely crafted, is not worth listening to unless you are seeking an exact replica of Belle & Sebastian’s gentle, European, intelligent rock. Or maybe Belle & Sebastian with a slightly more lounge-y sound. Besides this resemblance, they do not have much to offer… and the aforementioned group is a hard one to beat at their own game.
Sleepy Records

All too often, bands get lumped into a specific classification based on where they’re from and who else came before them from that place.  Seriously, how many times have you heard “they sound like Gainesville” (read: Hot Water Music and/or Against Me!) to describe a band?  I was guilty of just this offense when first hearing Off With Their Heads… “they sound like Minneapolis” (read: Dillinger Four).  While they do share some key musical elements (and the occasional member) with their more known neighbors, Off With Their Heads aren’t kid brothers; these fellows throw out tunes in a much rawer fashion, smudging over the imperfections that only give the songs more charm.  They bounce effortlessly between fast, edgy punk rock and almost surf-like poppiness, never relenting for a second from the anthemic, fist-pumping overall approach.  Although this CD only serves to collect various other releases, having these 14 songs in one place makes it well worth picking up.
No Idea Records