Leave the Universe, New San Diego Band on Vans Warped Tour, About to Break Out Nationally

Some breaking news for my fellow fans of great new music: Leave the Universe, a new band on the brink of stardom, is on the current Vans Warped Tour and will be playing in San Diego on Wednesday, Aug. 5. I first heard about this intense but melodic pop-rock unit from a friend who sent me a video for the group's enticing song "Reflection." It kinda blew me away. The new single, "Just Let Go," is even better. It's an insanely infectious tune. 

Leave the Universe's first recordings struck me as a fresh reworking of one of those quirky but musically gifted 80's alternative bands that wore all black and appeared in those bar scenes in all those John Hughes flicks. But the band's direction now is clear. Leave the Universe has some decidedly dystopian/cyberpunk edges within a very catchy pop-rock framework. 

Think of Green Day with a female vocalist and a touch of trippy 80's W.O.B. (Wearers of Black) band thrown in. This is upper echelon stuff, an impressive and unique young band that is about to make its mark.

And the clear highlight is singer Crystal Douesnard, whose voice has an amazing clarity, warmth and maturity. She's one of the best young female rock singers I've heard in a long time. And the true test? The band's songs and vocals sound just as good unplugged as they do with effects. That says it all.

The group -- Douesnard, guitarist Kalin Pugh and drummer Cameron Philips -- hails from Durango, Colorado, but loaded up the car and headed to San Diego about a year and 1/2 ago. That's when Josquin Des Pres and Bryan Spevak, two veterans of the music industry trenches, started developing the group and honing its sound.

"Our next show is the San Diego Warped Tour, and then shortly after that we will be filming a new music video for our single ('Just Let Go')," Crystal explains excitedly.

When that video hits the airwaves, I suspect all hell's gonna break loose for this band, which I'm confident is on the brink of the big time. Good songs and good singers find a way. And this band has both. Nothing's been announced, but music business sources tell me that some major industry players are vying for Leave the Universe's affection.

"We're inspired by any form of art that we can take a deeper meaning from," Pugh says. "Anywhere from soundtracks to artists in the pop and rock world to even visual art. We actually take a lot of inspiration from film."

Drummer Philips adds, "With this last album we have discovered more of our true sound. As we continue to write we are going to keep exploring this alternate reality of sound that we have discovered."

Keep an eye on this group. Its star is about to leave the universe...