Left Unsaid

Left Unsaid played their like 800th annual reunion show on Saturday night. Okay, I'm joking, but I have seriously lost track at this point how many times this has occured. Before we dive into the details of the show, let me give you some background on Left Unsaid.


Left Unsaid was my favorite local band. They stood out amongst Albuquerque bands. Their pop-punk anthems are undeniably catchy, and inspired me as a young lad to play music. I can remember jamming to Left Unsaid songs (especially "Bottle Rockets") in my bass player's garage in the 9th grade. I remember hearing songs like "Dresden" on the local radio station, The Edge. I always admired that Left Unsaid could generate that big of a buzz in Albuquerque. They helped blaze the Duke City pop-punk trail, and made way for all the rest of us.


We were thrilled to learn that Left Unsaid were playing yet again at the Launchpad. They have every couple of years since they broke up and it has always been a good show. We showed up to the Launchpad Saturday night and were absolutlely taken back by the amount of people there. I have been to the Launchpad so many times and I have never seen such a large crowd. It was hard to even see the band because crowd streched all the way back to the bathrooms. The crowd was also unusually drunk, and it was getting pretty annoying.


As for Left Unsaid's set, they played excellent, when they were playing. In an hour set they must have played only like seven songs. They just talked and talked and talked. All the excesive mouth-running aside, Left Unsaid played an awesome, yet short, set. Starting with "Paper Dolls" and ending with "Dresden". Midset highlights included "Bottle Rockets" and a cover of Bad Religion's "Better Off Dead". I would definitely recommend catching next year's episode of "The Left Unsaid Reunion Show".

The Lonely Forest and The Joy Formidable

One of our recent favorite bands, the Lonely Forest, made a stop in Albuquerque on their tour this past spring with the Joy Formidable. The two rocked a good size showing at the Launchpad at a 21+ show on April 20th. It was our first chance getting to see both bands, and both made a great live impression.

The Lonely Forest are a unique dynamic rock outfit. They sound like a blend of REM and Brand New as the lead singer at different times can sound like Michael Stipe or Jesse Lacey. We love their ability to combine pop riffs and lyrics with attention-getting breakdowns and just being incredibly catchy. This translated well to a live audience, even those who likely had no previous experience with the Lonely Forest. It was a laid back, ear-pleasing evening featuring the Lonely Forest's highest points from the new album, Arrows. Notable moments of the night included John Van Deusen's vocal talents on Coyote, the newest single “We Sing In Time”, and the song that introduced Stop Their Frequency to the Lonely Forest, “I Don't Want to Live There”. Basically, everything we had anticipated and more.

Up next came a Welsh surprise to Stop Their Frequency. The Joy Formidable surprised us with their great stage presence and unique stage setup. The Welsh trio sports a great guitar sound, and made us want to get up and move around. Sure, we thought we knew what we were looking forward to, having done our research and being familiar with Rout's dubstep remix of their single “Austere”. Not only was “Austere” as good as we thought, the band surprised us with their fun sound and show as a whole. We left looking forward to hearing even more from the Joy Formidable in the future.

So, if you missed the show here in Albuquerque or missed the Lonely Forest and the Joy Formidable on the Spring tour elsewhere, look them both up soon. You won't regret it.

Glitch Mob Announce New Release

The Glitch Mob are to release We Make The World Stop on July 12th.

Don't forget to catch them on tour. June 29 at Sunshine for those who live in the Duke City. For the complete list of dates, consult the flyer below: