World Leader Pretend
Quest Club’s Ascot Room
Minneapolis, MN
November 7, 2005

When thinking of the New Orleans music scene, obligatory thoughts of jazz come to mind from Louis Armstrong to Dr. John. Perhaps funeral dirges during the day partnered with beaded drunken party music at night. Enter World Leader Pretend, a misunderstood N.O.-based who escaped to Harlem to record their album and make it big.

Recorded by the band themselves (with no previous recording, producing or engineering experience), Punches itself is a fantastic pop voyage - so much so that when Warner Bros. picked up the group, they kept the album as is for release.

About 30 people showed up for the small Ascot Room show Monday night, and the band — on their first-ever trip to the Twin Cities — was more than appreciative of the turnout and audience participation. In fact, more than half brought digital cameras and spent much of the entire set taking photos, tinkering with settings, telling each other how much fun they were having and then mock-drumming (seriously, at least three people at one time were air-drumming). And they weren’t kids. For a Monday, almost everyone was drinking. Now that has absolutely nothing to do with the band, but with Bauhaus up the street and some interesting bands also playing Monday night, I thought it was something to note.

WLP’s live show featured the intuitive hooks and aggressive vocals that make Punches worth buying. What comes off as a Neil Diamond/Travis obsession on the stereo is merely singer Keith Ferguson’s southern charm live. Throughout the set, Ferguson — wearing his little brother’s winter jacket for that cool pop rock look — pulled off a myriad of vocal runs, whispers and lyrical adeptness with flair. “Bang Theory,” the group’s signature “Bittersweet Symphony-meets-Diamond-on-a-drunken-Monday” track, fared well with a sampler for the strings.

But the true hit of the night (and the album) is the title track, “Punches.” With haunting piano, wailing guitar and seasoned, sophisticated form and melody, this is the breakout song that must be the reason everyone from Michael Stipe to Thom Yorke is making note of this band. After playing an outstanding gig at the Voodoo Music Experience (w/ NIN and QOTSA) in late October and album buzz building, could it be that World Leader Pretend was never pretending at all?
The group is on tour for the rest of November - check their Web site for details.
—–
Download Punches here: