Cancer and Cinematic Punk Rock N’ Roll Collide on Lorne Behrman’s Urgent New Single, “They Won’t Take Us Alive,” Out Now, On Spaghetty Town Records

“They Won’t Take Us Alive” Spotify

Art imitating life is a cliché, but it’s still crazy when it happens. When punk rock n’ roll singer-songwriter Lorne Behrman was putting the finishing touches on his third album, If Heaven Didn’t Hurt, out September 25th on Spaghetty Town Records, he found himself thrust into the narrative of its first single, “They Won’t Take Us Alive.” 

The anthemic punk rock song tells the story of a couple unravelling while they watch a loved one die of cancer. It’s a fictional account of two people bonded together by their past and a shared death. Shortly before releasing the single, though, Behrman found himself facing his own cancer diagnosis. 

“A year ago, I found out I had prostate cancer. At the time it was so minimal, that it didn’t require treatment. Over the year though, it progressed a lot, and I had to have surgery. It’s been a challenging time for me, with a lot of uncertainty and pain,” Behrman says. “The punky spirit and resilience of this song have stuck with me.”

A lone set of hooky punctuated chords sets off the song before a driving Ramones-style groove sets in. The chorus boasts a catchy minor-key chant, as the three protagonists admit their fate: they won’t take us alive. Nothing is spared in the song. 

Thankfully, Behrman is on the mend and is expected to make a full recovery. “I thought I was too young for this, but I realize cancer goes after everyone and anyone,” Behrman says. “I’m getting through a dark time with a lot of love and support from my wife, my kids, my family, and my friends. Plus, I had an incredible medical team who I am very thankful for. Shout out to Dr. Al Hussein and his staff!”

The duality of heartbreak and humor define Behrman’s upcoming album, If Heaven Didn’t Hurt. The 10-track album stumbles through New York’s East Village in a hungover stupor, tripping down the avenues, pondering the lives of two women, their husbands, and how the artist’s own story felt spiritually intertwined with their narratives. Here, Behrman has curated a cinematic sleaze-o’sphere of gritty 1970s New York, the kind you see in Taxi Drive, Mean Streets, and The Panic At Needle Park, and superimposed imaginative tales of desperation, depravity, and, ultimately, a kind of burnished salvation. 

Behrman has previously issued two critically-acclaimed full-lengths and an EP. His releases have garnered accolades and features in The Aquarian, Classic Rock Magazine, Vive Le Rock Magazine, Metronome, Glide Magazine, New Noise, Goldmine, and taste-making punk mag Razorcake. Behrman has played shows with Richard Lloyd (Television), Jeremy & the Harlequins, Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Jonny Polonsky, Adam Masterson, Lulu Lewis, and Diane Gentile, among many others. Outside of his solo career, Behrman has toured and recorded with The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks, The Sweet Things, and The Outlaw Vinnie Stigma. 

If Heaven Didn’t Hurt was produced and mixed by Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Courtney Love, Debbie Harry, Joe Bonamassa), and features Howard Alper on drums (Cory Glover, Laura Branigan, $yndrm), Matthew Jacob Dougherty on bass, Rob Clores on keyboards (Black Crowes, Jesse Malin, Tom Jones), Danielle McCullough on backing vocals, and The Uptown Horns (James Brown, Tom Waits, The Rolling Stones).

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