Sweet music

Rarely do you see band members click so well together on stage that they’re able to adjust their set list at will, make each other laugh and still play a good show. Sweet Polly is such a band. Formed about two-and-a-half years ago, Sweet Polly thrives on having fun, from their stage presence to their quirky, Pixie-esque original songs—such as “The Happy Song” and “I’m a Happy Little Troll"—as well as their creative covers.

Named after the girlfriend of the cartoon character Underdog (Sweet Polly Purebread), the three-piece band came together after guitarist (and occasional screamer) John Mendicino and drummer Bruce Gonyea saw singer/bassist James Cavanaugh perform at the Silver Peak Restaurant & Brewery. The three decided to jam together and have been making music ever since.

“We write a lot of music together,” Mendicino says. “There’s a collaborative, creative procedure that we go through to make music.”

The music that comes from their minds is often happy, just like the band members on stage—and off, for that matter.

“A lot of times someone will play a riff and someone will say, ‘keep doing that,’ “ Cavanaugh says. “There is usually a mood to the riff for the lyrics I come up with. Hopefully they are not all about trolls.”

“I think our charm and humor comes out through our music,” Gonyea says.

With influences ranging from Bauhaus to Led Zeppelin to Elvis Costello, Sweet Polly’s music, as best as I can describe it, sits somewhere in the realm of alternative pop—similar to Weezer, but with a case of the blues, instrumentally speaking. On stage, there is even more variety. At a recent show, the band played a ska-punk version of The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams.”

They later pulled violinist Janese Hurley out of the crowd—who plays with the band from time to time—to play a few songs, including “Low Rider,” and bounced happily around to their originals, including the notable “8 Seconds to Ride.” On occasion, Kent Muira will join the band on a bongo-style drum.

The members of Sweet Polly have also self-produced a seven-song CD, titled Feel the Love. While the CD is available locally, the band hopes people outside of Reno will soon hear their music too.

“One of the things we want to do right now is break out of the Reno area,” Cavanaugh says. “Get up to [Lake Tahoe], Sacramento. Develop a regional following instead of a local one.”

But the members of Sweet Polly say that their local following is one of the reasons they enjoy playing together. During shows at the Great Basin Brewing Company, their fans have been known to buy them shots of Jaegermeister.

“Now I don’t drink beer while we play there,” Cavanaugh says, laughing. “When people do buy us shots, we have everybody say, ‘Sweet Polly rules live.’ “

There was also a large throng of Sweet Polly fans on hand to see them Feb. 8 at the Cantina Los Tres Hombres in Reno. The vocal crowd was calling out for their favorite Sweet Polly songs—and the band usually obliged.

Despite the decent-sized crowd, Sweet Polly seemed as if they were playing to each individual person. And each person seemed to appreciate that.