With power chords aplenty and unrelenting rhythm, Dude York's music is alive with a level of kinetic energy that's contagious. After a string of one-off singles, an EP and more, the group is on the cusp of releasing its new album Sincerely via Hardly Art in February. During that span of releases, their rock and roll sound has evolved from thrashy and catchy to a more polished, stream-lined version that's still left of mainstream. Fun as ever to sing a long with, real enough to relate to and raw enough to rock out to, the Seattle trio is on the verge.

We chatted with singer/guitarist Peter Richards and drummer Andrew Hall about how Sincerely came together, predictions for the year ahead and how Paramore factors in.

Hometown/Homebase: Seattle, WA

If you were to creatively describe your sound, how would you?

Peter Richards: Dude York is right in between Black Sabbath, the Cure, and Blink 182. I think it's cool that we are a trio, a lot of my favorite bands are/were trios and it makes us work as hard as possible.

How did you initially meet and come to form the band?

Peter: I knew Claire in high school through mutual friends and was a huge fan of her band Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head/Brite Futures. Andrew and I went back to school early in winter of 2010 and started a band to distract ourselves from British novels and studying. Two weeks later we played our first show.

What is your songwriting process like? How long does it take for a song to from idea to finished track?

Peter: Some songs take shape almost as soon as the idea is brought up to the group, and some songs take months and months to take shape. A big part of our process is revision and editing. When Claire first brought in “Love Is,” it felt pretty magical because Andrew and I seemingly knew exactly what to play right away.

Anxiety and distress are themes on the record. How do you as individuals and/or as a band feel you've grown in facing those challenges?

Peter: I am pretty sure anxiety and distress are themes in everybody's lives, and a big part of facing challenges like that is to process them. My way of processing is in songwriting. Most of my favorite songs are very sad. “Alone Again Naturally” by Gilbert O'Sullivan and “Up the Junction” by Squeeze, for example, have an epic sense of personal tragedy.