Left Alone – Lonely Starts & Broken Hearts

Everyone has those bands that they just can’t wait to hear from. They go out and buy the CD the minute it is released and play it non stop for months. It is their favorite band that they talk about all the time – everyone has one or two of those bands. But then, at the same time, there is another type of band in a lot of CD collections and that is the one-off band. The band that you heard live opening for your favorite band, or the band that you heard on a random compilation somewhere. They aren’t the reason why you went to the show or bought the record, but they are a nice added bonus and their name stays with you. Then maybe a few weeks later you’ll see that name on a CD and decide to check it out because you remember liking them a while back; and although they don’t become one of your favorite bands, they become a band you like and listen to occasionally. Left Alone is that band. They don’t blow you away, but have enough umph in them to make you want to listen to the album all the way through once again.

The easiest way to describe them is to say that they easily fit the HellCat Records roster. They have the same type of vocals that follow in the footsteps of bands like Rancid, Operation Ivy or Swingin’ Utters and sound like them musically as well. While most of the songs are leaning towards the street punk side of things, they also throw in some ska melodies to spice up the album a little bit. By My Sidewould easily be one of the best examples of what to expect from the album; even though it starts off with an uncharacteristic violin section (which sounds amazing), it quickly breaks into a head bopping ska song as soon as it passes the first verse. Another standout song is the track about dyeing love and loss of friendship, Dead Red Roses, which contains the catchiest chorus of the album.

These DIY punks aren’t anything extremely remarkable or fresh – but they were able to create a upbeat street punk/ska album that will fit into any HellCat Records collection. And after this upcoming Warped Tour, Lovely Starts & Broken Hearts will be in record collections all over North America after they wow crowds in every city.