Spend any time around them, or with their forthcoming sophomore effort, 4/4 Waltzes, and sure: there’s a traditional bluegrass foundation; yes, they have an East Coast kitchen-party vibe; and, allegedly, one band member’s partner describes them as sounding like the Looney Tunes started a roots band.

But the Sour Patch Men quickly fire off in disparate stylistic directions, drawing on the Pogues, Roger Miller and the Beatles — even if that last reference “doesn’t really mean anything,” according to their email pitch — while bringing polka, blues, gospel, drone and even metal into a swirling melting pot from which the sextet somehow emerges intact.

“Oh god. Have we gone too far?” asks banjo player Alex Klipper.

“None of us know how to count,” laughs standup bassist Matthew Lowe, noting the irony of their upcoming album’s title. “It kind of speaks to our personality.”

Despite officially debuting on record in 2025, the Sour Patch Men have been playing together in various forms and guises for about a decade. At one point, they considered changing their name because it was too silly. Then a guy came up to them after a show and said he’d only entered the venue because he saw a sandwich board outside announcing that the Sour Patch Men were playing that night. If it’s good enough for one person, it’s good enough for them.

They’ve developed their multifaceted sound much the same way: live, feeling what the audience is feeling and seeing what clicks among those gathered at the congregation. They sing about Jesus and animals, love, death and drinking. And above all else — especially because they’re from Bowness, a neighbourhood that prides itself on being tight-knit — they believe in the infinite power of community.

“We recorded with Taylor Cochrane of 36? in their studio, which was super important to the final sound of 4/4 Waltzes,” says Lowe. “We had so many people in the studio come in and collaborate, share their ideas. And it’s helpful that there’s a lack of ego in the band. [When we recorded,] it was easy to work through ideas, get rid of things that didn’t work. If it made the song better, everyone was for it. It’s such a supportive group of people.”

“The plan, originally, was to record this one in a barn in a more traditional style to the last album,” says Klipper. “I had quite a backlog of songs after the first record. We chose the weirder ones for the first record and these were kind of just the leftovers. But it turned out there were a lot of themes that came up through these songs kind of by accident.”

4/4 Waltzes features a long list of Calgary and Alberta collaborators who fit seamlessly into the wide-ranging project. Everyone brings their own flavour to the mix and, in the world of the Sour Patch Men, more is more. Laura Hickli sings on several tracks; Peter Cormier of Peter and the Wolves plays piani [sic]; Meg Thompson of L’Omelette provides saxophone; and Natalie Inga, Meg Brown of Makiisma, Jill Shannon of Dialup and the Hailstones, Jarret Grey of Electric Aubrey 2 and James Watson of Deathlettuce and Cabrakaan all join the festivities.

The list goes on. The kitchen gets fuller and fuller. The party rages on.

“We fully embraced the community spirit with this one and I feel like it really shines through,” says Klipper.

But there’s a dark side to community, bubbling just beneath Bowness’ placid, hippy underbelly.

Somewhere along the way, the Sour Patch Men developed a deadly rivalry with their mortal enemies, the Band O’ Ruglies. These ne’er-do-wellers have never been up to any good and seem to exist solely to torment the Sour Patch Men, continuously scooping them ahead of their releases.

“They sabotage our shows, our album release. They’re constantly messing up our hotel rooms. They change the settings on our amps. Their album release a day before ours? A low move,” say the Men.

It’s serious business, but there’s no getting rid of the Ruglies. They follow them everywhere. Their songs include “The Sour Patch Men, I Hate Them,” “The Worst Band in Bowness” and “Poopbrains.” They always seem to be one step ahead, leaving the second best band in Bowness with little choice but to deal with it.

Officially, the Sour Patch Men don’t even acknowledge the Band O’ Ruglies’ existence.

But they’re always there, dancing in the shadows, just out of sight.

4/4 Waltzes will be released Aug. 29, with the Sour Patch Men celebrating the album that night at Calgary’s King Eddy.