Left Alone – Dead American Radio

This was a very nice breathe of fresh air for me, a much needed reprieve from the emo onslaught that has been overtaking the scene as of late (and sadly, Epitaph Records in some cases too).It is an album that reminds me why I got into punk in the first place. It’s an album that proves once again thatHellcat and Epitaph are solid labels. It’s an album you won’t hear on the radio stations across america, but rather playing over the speaker in the little crummy punk rock venues all over – because quite frankly, Dead American Radio is a solid, street-punk album proving that, if you look hard enough, there’s still good punk music out there.

Now, that’s not saying that the mohawk wearing Left Alone are an incredibly innovative and creative band, because they aren’t. They are a solid street punk band, a nice mix of Social Distortion and Rancid if you would (Tim Armstrong even makes an appearance on City To City), that aren’t hiding behind any false pretenses or images. They’re a band not afraid to push the boundaries with the inclusion of the Hammond organ, pedal steel, and saxophone on certain tracks. This switches the tempo of the album, making them go from classic street punk anthems like New York City, to acoustically lead tracks likeNobody Likes Us, to ska filled Justino and near cow-punk song She’s The Only, while still being able to maintain a seamlessly flawless flow of the album. Every song fits with its neighbor and every song is still Left Alone without any major surprise. Even the spanish sung La Pregunta (featuring Patricia Day of The Horrorpops) seems appropriate in the mix, despite the initial shock of the foreign language.

Even though they are the classic example of the Hellcat Records sound, by today’s standards, Left Alone could easily be considered as new and inventive amongst today’s emo stricken airwaves. There’s no whiny vocals here, no agitated screams, no pitch perfect vocals at all. There’s no slick guitar riffs and 2 minute long breakdowns, there’s no “wahh my girlfriend left me now I’ll kill everyone” lyrics and definitely no girl pants. Instead you get catchy, but slightly off tune vocals, heavily distorted guitars, and classic punk rock anthems. And one thing’s for certain, and that’s that they don’t sound like “caca”.