All Left Out - The Conquest
Monday 24 September 2007, 10:48PM
By Universal Music
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All Left Out can only be described as New Zealand’s best kept secret. Not such a secret to their hordes of fans in the U.S, but certainly locals may be surprised to find this internationally admired young punk band doing the do in their own back yard.
In order to understand the extraordinary achievements of this young band so far, let us travel back to early in the 21st Century...
All Left Out was founded by singer/guitatist Ken Pratten in Hamilton in 2002. As a drummer in another band Ken found the outlet needed for the many songs that he’d written, and after roping in the help of three friends, All Left Out was born.
In 2004, after some line-up changes, the band began recording demos for what would become their debut album. The plan was to borrow money to record the album and then make a trip to the United States to sell them, using ‘street marketing’ to recoup the costs. A scary proposition even for an established act, but these entrepreneurial young men, lead by Pratten, felt the fear and did it anyway. In June 2005 All Left Out arrived in the U.S.A armed with a burning desire, their newly recorded debut album Never Say Never and a second hand shuttle bus, which they tore the seats out of and replaced with bunk beds. With no fewer than four breakdowns a week and no air conditioning in the sweltering heat, the band travelled all over the USA and Canada following the Vans Warped Tour.
By the end of 2006, through their relentless determination and self-promotional efforts, the band had toured the U.S three times, opened for Fall Out Boy in California, established a fan base in all major cities of the USA and parts of Canada and the UK, and independently sold 17,500 copies of Never Say Never.
That is what is known, in the most hyperbolic of Kiwi terms, as A Bloody Good Effort.
Release date: October 15th 2007
All Left Out Music / Universal Music
So how to follow up such a smashing success? Why release a second album and join the Vans Warped Tour for a third year running, of course. If it ain’t broke...
Over June, July and August of this year All Left Out played another 40-odd shows across the States, this time playing more than half of them on the Warped stage. During that excursion they sold nearly 12,000 copies of their second album The Conquest.
The video for first single The Lights is on screens now, featuring a real WWII biplane dontcha know.
The Conquest will be available in NZ stores on October 15 2007.
www.myspace.com/allleftoutnz
www.allleftout.com