When the advance promo single from The Beanstalk Library landed in our hands in the midst of that blinding heat wave in early August, it seemed perfectly timed. The one-two punch of “Elephantitis”, a rushing, gushing power-popper, and “Fake It”, with its requisite jangle and harmonies, was the perfect antidote to midsummer malaise.

Now the proper full-length, America at Night, is finally out, and the band’s finally got the album they’ve been working on since they first got together. It seems to have been worth the wait, as this one recalls the “Glam Parsons” swirl of West Coast acts like Cabinessence and the Beachwood Sparks while sticking close to their D.C. roots and a very singer-songwriter-oriented approach.

Either way, it’s a fine little debut from a refreshingly straightforward band. We coaxed one of the founding members, Ryan Walker, into having a beer with us before his solo set at Wonderland Ballroom last Sunday. Be sure to catch their next show, September 11 at DC9.

So your album’s finally out. How did things kinda fall into place?

It took a little over a year and a half, the whole process. We originally thought it might be an EP, then it grew to a full length record, even though it’s a shorter record. Basically it was a bunch of demos that we finished and reworked.

Where did you do the recording?

We did all the rhythm parts in a studio in Falls Church. We thought about doing the other parts there, but it made more sense to knock out a bunch of rhythm tracks and we ended up getting a drum sound I’m really excited about.

Then Brian and I have played in a Neil Young cover band called Ragged Glory for a while. We took the money we made from that – playing parties and stuff – and bought some home studio equipment so we could do it in our basement. We played some of our demos for Chad Clark, who’s worked with Dismemberment Plan on Emergency and I, which is probably my favorite “D.C. album” and he’s worked with Fugazi too. He liked them enough and said he’d do the mixing and mastering for us.

What was it like to record at home, to have an endless amount of time to work on it?

There was a fair amount of tinkering and it was actually kind of a difficult process. We lost one of the guys in the band. When you have that kind of time to put into something, you end up discovering what you’re about and what you really do.

Now that I have some distance from it, I’m really proud of it. There are things I wish we could do again, but to me, it sounds better than the typical debut album from a local band or something.