Pegasus (Right) Now

By Robert Wilonsky Fri., Mar. 24 2006 at 3:06 PM

You should've been at the Cavern last night. Doesn't matter if the crowd (and the stage) were too cramped or if the room was too smoky or if you had to wake up early for work the next day--Pegasus Now is a band worth enduring all of those burdens for and then some. This six-piece has roots in local indie-pop acts such as Go Metric USA, The Wurlitzer Prize and Lo-Fi Chorus, but what's exciting is how the various talented members come together under the potent lead of Neu LeBlanc, a guy who's been hiding behind his Dallas four-track for years. His previous solo CD-Rs showed serious promise, proving that LeBlanc was a talented song arranger who peeked out of the Elliott Smith shadow enough on his demos to prove he wasn't another one of 'em. But in Pegasus Now, he's found a musical kinship with his bandmates that is already shining brightly after only three (three!) official gigs.

The kid's got quite a howl on him, and he and the other five members whip up a striking combination of Slowdive, Travis and Shuggie Otis on stage. It's the kind of sound not meant to overwhelm with crescendos or all-out jams, but rather build song by song with a quirky take on melody and occasional flourishes of classic-rock guitar lines, organ ditties and waves of feedback that earn these guys more than a "Hey, they're kinda good" classification. For these reasons, Pegasus Now is simultaneously important and forgettable--a band that loves music so much it threatens to leave out passersby who might not care enough to give the instantly catchy stuff the extra attention it deserves.

Mark your calendars for their April 7 gig at the Cavern, where the crowd will be cramped, the room will be smoky and the band will be worth it all. --Sam Machkovech

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