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From LancasterOnline

Sunflower Bean isn’t used to slowing down.

The band toured the U.K. and Europe from Feb. 1 to Feb. 24, and embarked on a stateside tour immediately after.

When singer/guitarist Nick Kivlen hops on the phone to chat in early May, he says he’s been back at his parents’ house for two weeks, but he’s already antsy to get back out on the road.

“You just love your entire purpose when you’re so used to driving, meeting people, doing something,” says Kivlen, 21. “I don’t have a job now and I don’t have any money. It’s kind of a huge drop in activity.”

Sunflower Bean will perform at the Chameleon Club on Tuesday, as part of a handful of shows the band’s performing before summer festival season.

The band’s had a banner year, having released its debut full-length “Human Ceremony” in February on Fat Possum Records. The album, along with the band’s tireless work ethic, earned it the title of “NYC’s Coolest Young Band” by Rolling Stone magazine.

Sunflower Bean began when Jacob Faber filled in as the drummer in Kivlen’s former band. When Kivlen started penning songs separate from that project, Faber, 20, joined him.

“It was probably closer to hard rock, but not entirely,” Kivlen says of the band’s original sound. “It was definitely, in a way, garagey.”

The band added Julia Cumming, 20, after meeting her at a gig in New York City in 2011. Cumming joined the summer she graduated from a performing arts high school, where she studied classical music. The band’s sound evolved as Cumming arrived.

“I started writing sort of softer songs,” Kivlen says.

Sunflower Bean grinded at playing live shows in 2014 and performed every other day, Kivlen says. In 2015, the band spent the summer meticulously recording demos for “Human Ceremony.”

“Julia and I spent probably anywhere from 10 hours a day at his (producer Matthew Molnar’s) apartment overdubbing guitars to create these demos that would be close, so we went into the studio knowing exactly what we wanted it to sound like,” Kivlen said.

The band tracked the album in the studio in a single week, only making minor changes like the addition of an acoustic guitar to create a fuller sound.

“It’s like a secret thing,” Kivlen says. “Like, you’re listening to something, you never realize it’s there. When you take it away, the song loses some of its rhythm.”

The finished product is a mishmash of decades’ worth of influences, from the Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd to Best Coast’s “Crazy For You” and New Jersey trio Real Estate. Cumming’s soft falsetto floats over layers of fuzzy guitars intermingled with trippy jams, creating a sound often described as psych-pop.

Cumming has become an “It Girl” in recent months after being named the face of fashion giant Saint Laurent’s current black-and-white campaign.

Since “Human Ceremony” debuted, the band’s received notable airplay for its songs “Easier Said” and “Wall Watcher.”

“I didn’t know we were going to be able to be a band that would tour and have a career,” Kivlen says. He studied political science at Queens College for one year, and Faber took classes at State University of New York at Purchase.

“I always feel like when I was in high school, the band I was playing in was like an internship or something, so when I graduated I knew what to do,” Kivlen says.

Kivlen says Sunflower Bean already has 10 songs in consideration for the next album, which he predicts won’t be a drastic departure from its current sound.

A New York Times columnist and author who has written compellingly about how conflict, ignorance and poverty bedevil the developing world, Kristof remains optimistic.

His new book, "A Path Appears," co-written with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, offers example upon example of innovators finding new, effective ways to tackle age-old societal ills.

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Mentoring reduces depressive symptoms and leads to gains in social acceptance, academic attitudes and grades, according to a 2013 study conducted by MDRC a nonprofit education and policy organization that focuses on the poor.

Dwight Horsey, 56, East Hempfield Township, assistant vice president of enrollment management and director of financial aid at Millersville University