It’s a Monday night at the Drake, and everyone wants to talk to the guys in Sandman Viper Command. I’m trying to do an interview with the up-and-coming Burlington band in the lounge of the swanky Toronto hotel, but it seems that every time I start my recorder, I’m interrupted by another well-wisher. Sandman Viper Command are here tonight to play “Elvis Mondays”, the weekly music series put on by the venue at 1150 Queen Street West. “I’m sorry about this,” apologizes guitarist Daniel Reardon, as his bandmate Rob Janson banters with one particularly-soused individual, who claims that he is a qualified dragon-slayer (the conversation gets lost at this point). I shrug nonchalantly, and wait until the sea of family members, former high-school and work friends, ex-flings and current girlfriends dissipates before restarting my line of questioning.

The band, who consists of lead singer/guitarist  Janson, drummer Matt Damon Meyer, bassist Aaron Harvey, and Reardon, had best get use to this kind of attention. Although none of the four are older than 22, they are quickly garnering attention from all the right places. In the past year, they’ve been played on CBC Radio 3, had a song featured on the fourth Hi-Hat Recordings compilation (alongside the likes of Black Hat Brigade, The Schomberg Fair, and Spooky Ruben, among others), were filmed by Mitch Fillion for his online video series, Southern Souls, and have been mentioned on countless southern Ontario music blogs.

Friends since high school, the quartet decided to form a band after realizing that they were steadily outgrowing Burlington’s D.I.Y. ska and punk scenes. They began recording their debut album in the summer of 2008, with some help from Dave King, a veteran producer and owner of The Barn studio in Caistor Centre (just outside Hamilton). Jansen described the making of the album as being “a really organic process for us.” The result, Everybody See This, consists of twelve tracks of rollicking garage-rock with Britpop-influenced choruses (“Oh No, It’s Fusion!” and “Strawberry Quick” being two standouts) and tongue-in-cheek song titles (“Yo Bobcat” is a reference to Bob “Bobcat” McCown, host of Toronto’s “Prime Time Sports”, the Fan 590′s long-running daily phone-in show).

But before you write them off as another unoriginal band started by some scruffy-faced kids with tight jeans that one day found their parents’ old Beatles records (though both Janson and Reardon profess having a “hardcore love” for the Fab Four), listen to the acts they have supported. This past fall the band opened for Hamilton’s Arkells at McMaster University (“It was our first time playing with a barricade,” says Janson), and have played with the likes of The Rural Alberta Advantage, Holy Fuck, Spiral Beach, dd/mm/yyyy, and more. Can your shitty garage-rock band match those accomplishments? (that’s what I thought)

It’s obvious that with these higher-profile shows, comes attention from labels and others looking for the Next Best Thing, but both Janson and Reardon say the band are taking all these events in stride. In fact, talking to the guys about getting signed and getting the Sandman Viper Command name out there, it’s easy to forget just how young the members of this band are. “Sometimes you can’t get press, you just have to cold-call people,” says Jansen, “The whole thing with the music industry is that you have to fire on all cylinders. Labels are good, but it’s just a really slow process.” Adds Reardon, “It’s weird because when you’re trying to make something happens, nothing happens. Other times, stuff just happens on its own.” This down-to-earth approach to the big picture stuff bodes well for the band. They know that nothing is going to come to them on a silver platter – they are going to have work for the press, the shows, and (eventually), a label.

Several weeks later, I’m at Lee’s Palace for the second of two sold-out Arkells shows, with Sandman Viper Command opening this night. This is the third time I’ve seen the band perform live, but only the first time with a proper sound system, which makes the quartet’s songs sound that much louder. They open with “Oh No, It’s Fusion!”, before proceeding to play a solid, if slightly shortened, set. The larger stage suits them and they display an onstage presence that, if tightened a little, could make them a force to be reckoned with. I notice many heads in the packed crowd bobbing from side to side, and I helpfully/not-so-helpfully remark to anyone in earshot that, “these guys are going to be huge!”.

Later in the night, during the Arkells’ encore, the band is called up onstage to help out on a rousing cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark”. Somebody is handed a tambourine, while the rest of the band bound around on the stage, singing and dancing. When they come off-stage to waiting friends and family, they are grinning ear-to-ear in mirth. And why not? If 2009 was any indication, there’ll be plenty more smiles in-store for Sandman Viper Command in 2010.

For more Sandman Viper Command,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/sandmanvipercommand

You catch Sandman Viper Command at The Boat in Kensington tomorrow night with Burn Planetarium. Show starts at 9 pm.