Jamie Lenman, I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend
Big Scary Monsters

A master of the alternative arts, it’s fair to say that Jamie Lenman is not just a musician, but an artist. The man can seemingly tackle any of rock’s subcultures and absolutely nail them – and his latest single is only further proof of this fact. I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend, taken off of upcoming mini album King of Clubs, takes on punk, and it’s an absolute joy of a track. Fierce, catchy, and deeply relatable, I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend is a riot – you’re guaranteed to be bouncing around your room yelling along after the very first line.

‘If you’re a dick when you’re drunk, you’re a dick all the time’. A beautiful, beautiful opening statement, and one that wins you over instantly. Paired with a steady drumbeat, you’re irresistibly drawn into the track, tension building before the glorious explosion of a chorus – a BOOM of ‘I DON’T WANNA BE YOUR FRIEND!’.

The instrumentals throughout also brilliantly balance out the track, keeping it classy rather than entirely barrelling into the realm of thrash punk. The power of punk is there, contained within a tight, alt-rock structure. Lenman’s iconic voice only heightens the track’s brilliance – with his earnest tone and brilliantly English delivery, I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend perfectly balances mocking tongue-in-cheek and outright punk aggression.

I Don’t Wanna Be Your Friend somewhat deviates from King of Clubs’ previous singles; The Road to Right had more of an classic alt-rock feel, and Summer of Discontent had a mighty feature in the form of our favourite MC, Illaman of PENGSHUi. However, again, this is just more proof of Lenman’s musical ability – he can crank out a poisonously sharp punk track, but that doesn’t mean he can’t knock out a classic rock track that’s smooth as hell. There’s no other way to put it – anything Lenman touches turns to gold.

Pre-order King of Clubs now. Out 25th September.