Sunflower Bean's shifting universe

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Brooklyn-based Sunflower Bean spent two years playing shows together before its members had a record to get the group in the door — a fact that is as evident in their unhinged live performances as it is in their elevated studio work. “It gave us a lot of time to figure it out,” says Julia Cumming, bassist and vocalist. “We just started off playing as many live shows as we possibly could and just practicing all the time and being together all the time.”

The band, which released its debut full-length Human Ceremony in February via Fat Possum, came together shortly after members Nick Kivlen (guitar, vocals) and Jacob Faber (drums) graduated from high school in Long Island. After playing a few gigs as a duo, the pair linked up with Julia Cumming, a classical vocal student at a performance arts high school. The trio cites influences “from Bob Dylan to the Velvet Underground to the Verve,” but Sunflower Bean’s evolution as a band is most influenced by its own time on the stage. Endlessly playing shows around New York, by the time it felt right to settle down and record, the band was most interested in using the studio to create the kinds of sounds they couldn’t replicate on the live stage. “You can be so many other things vocally and so many other things instrumentally in the studio — we can create a different universe than we can on stage,” says Cumming. “After the record, it's become a matter of how we represent these recordings that we're really proud of.”

This attitude lends a surreal pop touch to songs such as "Easier Said," "I Was Home," and "Wall Watcher." Each song swells with languid psychedelic textures, propelled by yearning, atmospheric pop tones. On stage, each number bursts with spontaneity and excitement.

Seeking the serendipity of a good live show has everything to do with keeping songs pliable while adjusting to the mood of a room. “What could reveal itself to us that night to make that performance different and exciting and fresh and unique — for us and also for the audience?" Kivlen asks. "When a band is playing their song the same way every night, uniformly, audiences can really pick up on that. Having that wildcard element where maybe something goes wrong or something goes better than usual, maybe it's just changing and evolving and being more malleable — they really pick up on that.”

That flexibility on stage and willingness to experiment in the studio is only a natural extension of the instincts that helped them hit the ground running as a band in the first place. “The second it was all three of us together, we just never stopped,” Cumming says.

And that momentum is only just firing up.

Sunflower Bean plays the Drunken Unicorn on Thurs., Nov. 10. $10-$12. 8:30 p.m. 736 Ponce De Leon Ave. www.thedrunkenunicorn.net.