Sun Club‘s been busy this year. The latter half of 2015 took them from Baltimore to Europe and back. “We didn’t expect there to be a lot of people at our shows in Europe at all,” said Devin McCord, drummer of the bright and eclectic indie rock band Sun Club, over the phone back home in Baltimore. “But we got there and the crowds were so enthusiastic… staying for the whole entire show. Here, people don’t stay for the whole shows a lot of the time, but in Europe it was awesome to hang with people after the shows and have them really dig our music.”

Their latest album, The Dongo Durango, is the band’s first release on ATO Records, which boasts artists such as Alabama Shakes and My Morning Jacket alongside these newcomers.

“It’s so cool to have a label backing you,” said McCord. “When you’re touring, they just help with so much. People sometimes talk about their label as a bad thing, but as far as labels go we’ve been lucky with how accepting they are with all the weird stuff.”

“The weird stuff” would include things like recording an album at the Baltimore Community ToolBank, a warehouse they frequented at night when it wasn’t in use, running through each song dozens of times to get them right, live, in one take.

“For some random reason, we had to do ‘Cheeba Swiftick’ like a thousand times; it was tough to get that tempo right,” said McCord. But the live sound is essential to Sun Club’s ethos. The production on the album transports you to the warehouse, or the basement, or the intimate club where you’re likely to catch Sun Club performing on any given night. It puts you right in the front row next to your friends, watching the band jump around, throwing everything they have into each song.

“We’ve had this album recorded for about a year now, so it feels nice to finally have it out,” said McCord. They had been sitting on The Dongo Durango for a while, but they kept writing new material during that time. “We have a lot for a new album written, but we’re going to record it soon. First we gotta soak in this one for a while,” said McCord.

After the holidays, it’s all about touring, making music videos, and more writing. “It never really stops,” McCord said, not with indignation but with excitement. Europe is calling for them again, as well as a US headlining tour sometime in the beginning of 2016 and a performance at Firefly Festival this summer. Sun Club is just starting, and they don’t want it to stop.

The naming process for Sun Club’s songs is more organic than obvious. Seemingly random words are forced together to produce new and peculiar imagery. I asked Sun Club if they could illustrate a few of their song titles, and the results, well, speak for themselves:

“Dress Like Mothers”

“Tropicoller Lease”

“Puppy Gumgum”