Left Alone Has Company

Left Alone have taken their brand of three-chord punk meets ska and country from their backyard beginnings to the Hellcat Records stable where they've blazed a trail with their rather jovial approach to playing punk rock. Using their DIY ethos, and a strong desire to succeed the band has been just about everywhere they can think of twice taking their rambunctious style with them and making a name for themselves wherever they wind up. Four years since they found themselves signed to Hellcat and released their debut, they've returned with their latest record Left Alone and while decidedly more cohesive it does not disappoint.

Left Alone's ability to some add ska elements into the middle of a three chord punk song is truly something to behold. This is a band unafraid to fly through a song in under two minutes and still find a way to throw in a few bars of organ just to inspire the right amount of skanking. It's awesome stuff and when they do this it's as if Rancid and the Specials crashed into one another and Left Alone emerged out of the wreckage.

The album itself is a noisy, boisterous ride that's packed to the gills with choruses so easy to remember they make the alphabet look epic. Songs like "Three Bottles of Wine," and "Empty," show how the band have solidified their dynamics and are now able to write tight, focused songs that in no way forget where they come from but feature addictive song structures and show the band taking things to the next level. That being said, it's easy to say that Left Alone is the strongest of the band's three albums on Hellcat.

Left Alone is an easy album to listen to and and an even easier one to latch on to. Having spent some quality time with this record it's easy to see that the band love the new solidified and dynamic relationship that they share. How do I know that? The songs on this record are ridiculously strong, memorable and played with such passion and energetic fury that it would be difficult to think otherwise. Left Alone is a fun blast of Hammond organ spiced, bass guitar led, speedy punk rock that has the sound of summer written all over it