Alternative Radio - Leave Me Alone

Alternative Radio is a Punk Rock n Roll band from Milwaukee that holds an interest in providing folks with an honest representation of the various types of rock music from decades gone by. The kind gents in the group have provided us with an advance copy of their new single titled “Leave Me Alone” for review.

“Leave Me Alone” begins with a buzzing swarm of guitar noise interspersed with bouldering floor tom work. A descending wave of piano leads a rocking full band groove featuring bright honky tonk chords capped off by a maniacally Mick Jagger-esque guttural yell. The vamping groove is very reminiscent of something from a Stooges release, and features some spot-on cheeses gang shouting.

The “B” section offers up a dissonant four chord descending spy riff, complete with wailing guitar noodles intermixed. A brief vocal passage featuring more gang shouts leads into a bridge vamp section that has a bit of a jammy vibe, and while not each note is performed with precision, they also do not need to played in a such a way that leans up the chaotic punk vibe too much.

Lyrically the song seems to deal with the feelings of a youth simply wanting to be able to live life freely without constant harassment from others. The protagonist is indeed fed up, but what would punk be without angsts youth?

In any event, the track eventually resolved back to the main groove and the “leave me alone” chorus. A monsoon of noise persists throughout the mix while the vocalist wails away on the main theme. Eventually most of the instruments drip out leaving only the guitar to carry out a rock and roll ending.

Although every role in the song was sufficiently and competently fulfilled, I still feel as though I wanted just a bit more depth in this track, be it lyrically or instrumentally.

All in all though, it is a good example of a meeting between punk aesthetics and the instrumentation of the mid to late 1960’s. I could certainly see fans of The Stooges and The MC5 enjoying this release. For these reasons above, I

award this single a grade of “Aight”. Give Alternative Radio’s “Leave Me Alone” a spin and give the band a follow on social media! Until next time.