POP MUSIC REVIEW : World Party: New, Borrowed Sound

“And if you listen now, you might hear a new sound coming in as the old one disappears,” sang World Party chairman Karl Wallinger at the Roxy on Wednesday. The unpretentious accomplishment of his performance made the words true as it confirmed his role in the changing of the guard.

Not that World Party’s sound is entirely new. The 80-minute Roxy show did nothing to downplay Wallinger’s obvious borrowings from the Stones, Dylan, the Beatles and, increasingly, Prince. But the way he and his five musicians put it together was fresh and guileless, pointing more to the future than the past.

What’s new is the attitude, though it’s hard to call Wallinger’s neo-hippie love thang new either. But the relevant strength of his optimism--forged by the sad state of the world, but not as a hippie-like escape--places him in the company of new standard-bearers like the Waterboys (whence he came), Sinead O’Connor and Prince.

Missing from the show was anything quite as stunning as the version of “A Day in the Life” the band offered two years ago at the Santa Monica Civic, but that took nothing away from the easy command Wallinger has over his mighty-high concepts. Anyway, this show was just something of a warm-up for a bigger North American tour. And it also left the impression that Wallinger is just warming up for even bigger and better things in the future.