In the past half-decade or so, the defining sound of the indie-rock underground has arguably been acid-washed psych-pop. Kettering, England–based quartet Temples is often spoken of in the same breath as Tame Impala and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, based in large part on the paisley-whorled sonics of its 2014 debut LP, Sun Structures.

Temples bassist Tom Walmsley argues that the shoe doesn’t exactly fit anymore, given the more wide-ranging sound of the group’s soon-to-be-released sophomore album, Volcano. Nonetheless, Walmsley—reached by phone en route to San Francisco for the first date of the Desert Daze Caravan tour—asserts that he and his bandmates are happy to be considered part of the postmillennial psychedelic-rock scene, which he says is notable for its strong sense of camaraderie.

“The thing about festivals like Desert Daze is that there is such an element of community, a kind of shared musical idea,” Walmsley tells the Straight. “I think there’s not that many other current genres of music that have such a strong community like that, especially towards live music, and it’s all over the world, so it’s just great. If we belong to it in that sense, it’s good.”

Volcano isn’t entirely free of Summer of Love influences; “Oh the Saviour” boasts a fractured-folk melody that Donovan would have traded his hurdy-gurdy for (not to mention a lyrical reference to “a wild impala”), while “Born Into the Sunset” is a sonic Lava Lamp of swirling sound. It’s not as easy, though, to pick out individual influences as it was with Sun Structures, where the 12-string guitar lines of “Shelter Song” brought the Byrds flying to mind and “Keep in the Dark” was a shaggy-haired reminder of T. Rex’s protoglam.

Moreover, Temples brought a new set of influences to bear on Volcano. The synthesizer arpeggios of “Mystery of Pop”, for example, nudge it in the direction of new wave, and the shimmering drones of “How Would You Like to Go” make it a shoegazer’s delight.

“There weren’t many constrictions or rules or guidelines as to how we wanted it to sound,” says Walmsley, “other than that we wanted it to hit a little harder and be more of a direct album, maybe not mask it so much in a wash of sound, and actually have the ideas more in the forefront in a kind of less-is-more approach.”

The bassist notes that he and his bandmates—singer-guitarist James Bagshaw, keyboardist-guitarist Adam Smith, and drummer Sam Toms—each contribute to the songwriting.

“There’s a lot of individual writing to begin with, and then the collaboration begins at a later stage,” Walmsley says. “Initial ideas are often written individually, but it depends on the song. Different songs are brought by different members of the band, and you just try to make yourself as useful as possible to someone else’s idea, really.

“Whether that be involving with the music or the lyrics or whatever, you just try to organically fit in with the whole thing. It’s always a collaborative effort.”

Temples headlines the Desert Daze Caravan tour at the Rickshaw Theatre on Sunday (February 26).