BETTER LEFT ALONE are a five-piece pop-punk outfit from Lancashire, and with this self-titled EP release, it looks like they’re taking things seriously. They’re doing everything professionally with their website, press packs and they’ve even employed John Mitchell (You Me At Six, Funeral For A Friend, Enter Shikari) to produce the record, all off their own backs.
Sonically, the record shines as the polished production really makes the sound crystal clear. Better Left Alone sound a lot like Finch at their poppiest, particularly on ‘Wanna Talk?’, there’s also more than a passing resemblance to Fall Out Boy and the Lostprophets at times. Old-school pop-punk fans will be disappointed, but the new wave of emo-kids might just lap this up.
It’s early days for Better Left Alone, and this EP shows a lot of promise, but there’s plenty of work to be done. Stand-out track ‘Move Forward’ would benefit from being a minute shorter, as it’s overloaded with “woah’s” towards the end. Some of the other tracks are guilty of the same, and they’ve also got some guitar-solos which sound a little out of place – partly because pop-punk and guitar-solos are awkward bedfellows, but also because they’re not very inspired. The vocals are a little faux-American too.
There’s bags of potential here though – they’re working hard, polished and have some genuinely catchy hooks – so if they can cut out some of the filler and add a little bit more of their own personality, Better Left Alone have a chance of being successful.
MICHAEL WILSON