According to U.K. paper the Guardian, the Strange Boys “make the White Stripes sound like Muse”. But is this a good thing? Ryan Sambol, frontman for the psych-loving garage rockers, isn't entirely sure. “What does that even mean?” he asks, on the line from his home in Austin, Texas. “I've heard weird quotes from England; NME has said weird stuff too.

“I don't know,” he quips, “maybe it's lost in translation.”

When asked to come up with his own approximation of the sounds featured on the quartet's new record, Be Brave, Sambol does his best to sidestep the request, giving the impression that he has about as much faith in Canadian journalists as those across the pond.

The singer-guitarist might be hesitant to sign off on descriptors like “vintage Stones” or “scaled-back Black Lips”, but these are the references that spring to mind when the group's sophomore disc is blaring from your stereo.

Recorded at the Distillery Studio in Costa Mesa, California, Be Brave is a hodgepodge of deranged honky-tonk country, classic '60s pop, and croaky ballads. Not the most inviting rundown, true, but once you listen to tracks like “Between Us”—a lethargic love song that will have you convinced your record player is on the fritz thanks to the lumbering, half-speed melodies—you'll learn to appreciate the offbeat combination. And by the time the fiery country shaker “Night Might” kicks in, you'll have fully embraced the outfit's weird jamboree-type sound.

For a disc that seems to indulge every impulse and curiosity that struck the visionaries behind it, it's surprising to learn that the Strange Boys were in and out of the studio in just two short weeks.

“The record is mostly first takes,” says the 22-year-old musician. “People think that with your second record you're going to spend all this time on it and go crazy trying to live up to something, but we didn't have a lot to live up to.”

The glowing reviews of 2009's The Strange Boys and Girls Club suggest otherwise. In fact, it's safe to say that as soon as their debut started making the rounds, the band had nothing but high expectations to meet. But then again, Sambol was still ringing in his 21st year at that point, so we can't be too hard on the lad if he failed to notice the hype. When you're that age in America, the fact that you can get legally loaded is probably much more exciting than the rating your album gets from Pitchfork.

It's only been a matter of weeks since Be Brave was released, but it appears the Strange Boys have another indie hit on their hands. And as long as the outfit can whip its new drummer, Mike La Franchi, into shape, members of the garage-loving sect here in Vancouver should lose their Nuggets-loving minds when the band pulls into town this week.

“The first rehearsal will be tomorrow, but tonight we're having our first [band] meeting,” the singer says. “I've never actually met Mike, so it's like a blind date. Actually, it's an arranged marriage. It's consensual, though. He's not a slave or anything like that.”

What Strange Boys indeed.

The Strange Boys play the Media Club on Friday (March 5).