If a band chooses a sweet name like Solar Powered Sun Destroyer, they’ve already set themselves up for hefty expectations. The moniker brings to mind an all out guitar assault that leaves ears bleeding and brain cells, well, destroyed. The truth is more interesting. Yes, all five members of Solar Powered Sun Destroyer count various hardcore bands among their influences, and guitarists Justin Horenstein and Dave Davies (no, not the guy from the Kinks) both have considerable technical chops. But the guitar parts veer more toward the post-rock end of the spectrum, and the vocal melodies of John Kneip are at once powerful and sweetly emotive. At their most visceral, they could find a spot next to bands like The Life and Times or Explosions in the Sky. At their most experimental, they bring to mind M83.

The most interesting thing, however, about SPSD is how unapologetically excited they are about the band. Their current lineup reflects a recent personnel shift and while all of the bands have played (or still play) in other seasoned and notable acts, to listen to these five talk about the music that they’re creating, you’d think that they just discovered rock ‘n’ roll. Kneip, Horenstein, Davies, drummer Jimmy Rhodes and bassist Ross Hurt (whom we’ve previously interviewed with Caverns) sat down with us outside of WMUC after their in-studio performance on Third Rail Radio to talk about matching T-shirts, playing with their idols and why they’re so pumped about playing in this band.