For all of those music lovers and insiders who believe they were the first to arrive at the indie music scene feeling slightly (and uncomfortably) too mainstream right now, hold tight. New, different, and exciting modern rock music is still out there for you to discover. It may not be as quirky and simultaneously depressing as you’d like, but it’s new.

The New Orleans-based World Leader Pretend are one of these bands. With their major label debut, Punches, the band shows listeners how they seamlessly incorporate some non-traditional instruments (e.g. glockenspiel, tin cans, and sleigh bells) with both heavy and lyrical guitars. All while conveying sadness, elation, and anger without having to cry through lyrics.

The band employ a bit more straightforward rock in many of their songs by way of less layering and more lyrical phrasing than some of their contemporaries. The opener, “Bang Theory,” for example, uses strong upbeats with piano, bass drum, guitar, driving vocal lines, and an uncomplicated melodic pattern that repeats often without becoming boring. This song has a fierce electricity to it that gets you pumped for the rest of the album.

By contrast, the title track shows the band’s experimental nature. The song is brilliant and has one of the most interesting intros I’ve ever heard. It begins with jingle bells, piano, and good old finger snapping, followed by big-band style piano and cymbal, the fluttery soundings of a harpsichord, and – just before the vocals – a cough! The rest of the song is heavy with guitars and strong vocals, occasionally paired with soft piano. Again, simple and repetitious melodic lines, but it’s not obviously redundant to the listener with so much else going on.

“Tit For Tat” makes use of the ever-popular glockenspiel, as World Leader Pretend make its use pure signature: especially how it’s paired with the lyrics. Again, the jingle bells are back (somebody likes Christmas!), but this time in a samba feel that is just delightful in a tight rhythm.

Now, “B.A.D.A.B.O.O.M” is a shocker. It completely ruins any commonality I am trying to conjure between tracks on this album. World Leader Pretend go The Streets on us here with some beat-narrative over guitars, talking about the universe and monsters and all that good stuff. The last 30 seconds or so incorporate both singing with speaking, getting faster and faster, that ends abruptly and makes you wonder what just happened and if it could please happen again.

The closer, “Catch,” is a remarkably poignant piece in mono with whispery vocals and a lone guitar line. “I’ve been waiting for so long / I’ve been here, I’ve been here, I’ve been here.” This song is so different from the opener, it makes you recall the expanse of the band’s skill and promise for a new wave in modern music.