Left Alone - 'Lonely Starts And Broken Hearts' (Hellcat) Released 20/06/05

So you form a band, play some gigs, record some demo’s, and then wait for that important phone call from someone in ‘the industry’ to take your music to the masses.  You wait.  You wait a bit more.  Sometimes bands break up and cease to be due to the lack of said phone call, but others are cleverer.  Others, such as California’s Left Alone, realise that they don’t need anyone’s help and do it all themselves. 

Of course, there’s also another important factor which needs to be considered before we can call them a success story, and that’s the music. Their new album ‘Lonely Starts And Broken Hearts,’ has its obvious merits, with its boundless amount of energy, catchy melodies and amusing lyrics.  After years of gigging and their DIY approach of releasing two singles, three EP’s and two albums under their own label, Elvis, Rick, Ramrod and Noe (with names like that how can they fail) have built up a solid fanbase and even managed to jump on the Warp Tour 2004 bill by offering to be the official chefs, cooking for 500 people a night.  Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to separate them from the current ska-punk scene or their influences.  ‘Be My Side’ is catchy enough, ‘My 62’ is an entertaining story of lead singer Elvis’ car and ‘My Way’ is a relatively successful attempt at shouting **** You to whoever’s listening.  But with a lack of truly original, or even well written copies of songs, this album fails to ignite the imagination.  

If your into your punk, go to Warp every year and are still listening to your Guttermouth and Rancid albums, then Left Alone are probably worth checking out.  For the rest of us though, there’s no need to stray from our trusty Clash and Operation Ivy records.