Determined to make it as a band the members of Until June packed up their bags and left their Phoenix, Arizona homes for sunny Los Angeles, a city where hopes and dreams are gloriously realized or abandoned in frustration and bitter defeat. Josh Ballard, singer for the transplanted Los Angeles trio confesses, “We didn’t give ourselves a way out. We packed up, left school, left our families and forced ourselves to be alone in L.A. with just our music.” With a collective deadline of June 2006, the unnamed band christened itself after their self-imposed cut-off date. Fortunately, just as time was running out, Until June signed with Flicker Sony/BMG.

Sequestered in a new town the band has crafted an album infused with honesty and perseverance. Think in hybrid, a cross-section of the sounds of Keane, Coldplay, and Ben Folds Five—powerful, piano-based rock without an agenda. Warm falsettos crescendo into correspondingly warm moments of emotion. And yet there are many moments of wide-open, airy breaks and choruses, à la Sigur Rós and Sunny Day Real Estate. Until June’s approach to songwriting is more classic in nature. Verses, choruses and bridges flow into one another as songs progress and evolve, without such rigid structures as you hear on mainstream radio.

Armed with a pack of songs full of compelling sincere emotion, Until June plans to continue to hone its live show while traveling the nation. After four tough years in L.A., where they faced every obstacle the city could throw at them, nothing less than a full-time, national touring schedule would seem appropriate.