The rocking four-piece’s members don’t consider themselves too cool to enjoy the likes of Bryan Adams and Sam Roberts

Bryan Adams isn’t a name you hear all that often in the vicinity of Main Street. There’s always a chance hushed voices might be heard whispering about the famous expat in the back of some dimly lit Mount Pleasant bar, but for the most part, hipsters keep their love of the “Cuts Like a Knife” author close to their chest. Or at least that was the assumption before Sun Wizard released its debut EP, Maybe They Were Right.

“How can you refuse Reckless as the best record to come out of Vancouver in the last 30 years?” singer-guitarist James Younger exclaims, gulping back his super-sized root beer in the McDonald’s tucked away in the far corner of the Main Street bus terminal. “It’s radio-friendly rock that still has its integrity, and Bryan Adams wears that badge with pride—that’s something to strive for.”

With one member of Sun Wizard serving up drinks at the Biltmore and another about to move into a giant Winnebago parked behind the ever-popular Foundation Lounge, there’s no question that the year-old quartet—which also includes singer-guitarist Malcolm Jack, bassist-vocalist Frank Lyon, and drummer Ben Frey—has a stake in the Main Street scene. Yet somehow, the easygoing group has managed so far to escape the trappings of its too-cool-for-school peers.

“We actually really do love Bryan Adams, but you’re not meant to like guys like him,” Jack adds, seated next to his bandmate. “Take Sam Roberts, for instance. He’s totally a legit rock ’n’ roll guy who puts out tons of great albums, but you’re not supposed to like him—you have to like whatever garage band instead. I’m sure Sam Roberts is into Black Lips, but then Black Lips aren’t allowed to be into Sam Roberts. It’s frustrating.”

Be thankful that Sun Wizard doesn’t feel the need to keep up appearances, because if the band did, Maybe They Were Right could have ended up another pretentious clunker destined for the used bin at Zulu. Instead, the record stands as one of the most encouraging releases to come out of this city in ages.

Kicking off with a decidedly Strokes-y vibe before barrelling straight into the land of countrified pop, the opener “Glorious” wastes no time with timid introductions. Powered by blazing radio-rock bravado, Sun Wizard lays it on the line with mighty guitar riffs, tambourine accents, and chirpy hooks. While fans will delight in the freewheeling “You Had the Answer”—a barnburner boasting handclaps and gratuitous cowbell—the outfit soars just as high on more sentimental numbers like the heartstring tugger “Day in Day Out”.

But the real magic happens when you stop to admire the lyrical gold mine offered up by chief songwriters Younger and Jack. Tapping into a maturity and sophistication that would bring a twinkle to the eye of ol’ Adams himself, the dedicated duo show off some serious chops, as evidenced by the following line from the EP’s title track: “I don’t have a clue why I’m afraid of a world that was made to unite me and you.”

“The reason me and Malcolm met and got on is because we’re both songwriters,” Younger explains, his thick accent betraying his Manchester roots. “There is an emphasis on songwriting and lyrics in our lives. We both take our songwriting kind of like ‘That’s what we do,’ and we push each other into a creative zone.”

Although Younger and Jack recently bid adieu to the drop-in songwriting forum they’ve hosted for the past two years at Café Montmartre, neither of them intend to ease off on their writing schedule.

“Not to sound boastful, but we’re prolific songwriters,” Younger says. “We write like 20 songs a week. Maybe two of them work, but we work on them every day.”

Despite Sun Wizard’s emerging-act status, the band seems to be charting quite the course. And with so much passionate dedication propelling the crew along, it’s anyone’s guess where the talented quartet will end up.

“We’re just going to record as many good songs as we can until someone is like, ‘Okay, great, this is perfect,’ ” Jack says when asked about label prospects.

“And they will, in the end,” Younger pipes in. “I’m totally optimistic about that.”

In the meantime, the boys hope that Vancouverites—and Mount Pleasant hipsters in particular—will loosen up and admit to their more questionable sonic pleasures.

“I want to know when people are just going to ’fess up and say they like Foreigner—literally, not in an ironic sense,” Younger proclaims. “It always has to be this slightly postmodern and slightly ironic appreciation, but bands like these are great and deserve respect.”

Sun Wizard plays the Media Club on Friday (November 20).