5 reasons to love Peach Pit, the joyfully weird indie-rock band that sold out Rose Park

Peach Pit is a big deal. The purveyors of a lovely, shaggy indie-rock sound are a big enough deal, in fact, to sell out a Rose Park Summerfest date on a late-summer Monday night.

The Vancouver band, rolling into town to jumpstart next week, is three full-length albums into its crescendoing career (2017's "Being So Normal," 2020's "You and Your Friends," and last year's "From 2 to 3" comprise the catalog). If you're just hearing about them — or just keep thinking about the band in anticipation of Monday's show — here are five reasons to dig Peach Pit.

1. Peach Pit makes sadness sound good

It's a classic pop formula: wed woebegone lyrics to bright sounds, drawing out all that's entrancing about sadness. Peach Pit does it as well or better than most of their peers.

Hear the sunny smoothness in Neil Smith's melody as he details the sharp edges of love on "Drop the Guillotine" (from "Being So Normal") or glide along to the paradoxically propulsive nature of "You and Your Friends" opening salvo "Feelin' Low (F*ckboy Blues)."

"Black Licorice," also from "You and Your Friends," finds a bittersweetness befitting its name and, later on the record, Smith finds the charm and catharsis in belting the line "Leave you beaming with every second just a walk away / F**kin' up a Thursday."

2. The band keeps good company

From national to regional acts, the band gathers good company. Peach Pit has played shows with the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, The Districts, White Reaper and Diane Coffee — and during a St. Louis date late last year, they received support from River City staples, and one-time Columbia outfit, Tidal Volume.

3. Peach Pit isn't afraid to keep things weird

The title of the band's debut gestures toward their lack of interest in perceived norms, a quality that's grown parallel to their music.

According to a 2018 Calgary Journal article, Peach Pit earned demerits at an early battle of the bands "for being so normal." Taking "the criticism to heart," they committed to developing and doing their own thing. A 2017 Substream Magazine review describes the band meeting their moment and embracing a sort of geek chic.

4. The band knows how to make a killer music video

Often collaborating with filmmaker Lester Lyons-Hookham, Peach Pit has delivered a series of strangely entertaining, surprisingly moving videos. The clip for "Sweet FA" EP track "Seventeen" takes its dance party to soccer fields, parking garages, old-school video stores and disco ball-lit bowling alleys.

"Shampoo Bottles," from "You and Your Friends," arrives with an exploration of loss that achieves a truly particular blend of bizarro humor and melodrama. And "Look Out," a "From 2 to 3" standout, comes with a visual serenade, the band playing from the back of a pickup truck winding its way through pastoral countryside.

5. Peach Pit is just really (really) good

Ultimately, the band's appeal is pretty simple: the members of Peach Pit just know how to craft three to four minutes of compelling rock, one part or melodic fragment at a time.

Consider how the band's three-guitar attack (Christopher Vanderkooy, Dougal McLean and Smith) scorches its way through "Being So Normal," the title track, then glimmers on a song like "Up Granville" ("From 2 to 3").

Heavy breathing precedes a gleefully fuzzy riff on "Life at the Swamp" ("You and Your Friends"); several feverish measures of Mikey Pascuzzi's drumming introduce "Pepsi on the House" ("From 2 to 3"); and the final 90 seconds of "Private Presley" ("Being So Normal") spark with grunge, psychedelic and chamber-pop influences until the sound resembles a sunburst.

All these elements — and so many more — show off the band's well-tuned ears and define the personalities of Peach Pit songs.

Peach Pit plays Rose Park at 8 p.m. Monday with fellow Canadians Babe Corner. Learn more at https://rosemusichall.com/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Peach Pit is the latest band to sell out Columbia's Rose Park