Montreal-based BRAIDS have come a long way since losing out to a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band (who got points for wearing costumes) in a local Battle Of The Bands competition.

Now 2011 Polaris Music Prize nominees alongside Arcade Fire and Ron Sexsmith, the quartet are leaving audiences dumbstruck by what they describe as their “textural, groove-based aggressive pop”.

Having left Calgary and their The Neighbourhood Council moniker in favour of the Quebec capital’s bright lights in 2008, they honed their tunes and recorded Native Speaker – a self-produced debut album of experimental pop riffs, dream-like vocals and swirling synth-driven melody.

Influential music website Pitchfork described it as “Inception-like” thanks to the depth, density and multiple levels of sound.

Taking a melody, riff or specific emotion as a starting point, the band jam out ideas, before picking it apart piece by piece to see what works.

Understandably, it’s a lengthy process.

“Everything is composed collectively. So there are a lot of ideas being thrown out. We try to push every idea to its full extent,” explains drummer Austin Tufts.

“We get to the point where everyone is satisfied with their own ideas, which is why the songs are often very long and very dense. It takes us months to write one because of how meticulous and careful we are.”

Indeed, the band are so into layered and intertwined sounds that singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston stated she wanted Native Speaker to sound like damp hair.

“I think we all wanted the record to sound like what we feel live. After a while, we realized a record is something different, so we tried hard to bring all the ideas we were having in our heads on to the record and capture them,” says Tufts.

“It’s like when a painter is first learning how to paint, and asks, ‘How do I express this thought I’m having with a f****** brush?’ It’s super gooey and layered, and certain songs have a sort of ‘stepping into an ecosystem’ feel. That for me is analogous to damp hair.”

When creating such tightly weaved melodies, one may be forgiven in thinking that recreating the unique sound would pre sent a multitude of difficulties live. Not so.

“It’s never been hard for us to get it out. Playing all the parts live isn’t difficult because we know them so well. It always works and meshes,” says Tufts.

“Emotionally, we’re all very invested in executing the parts. When we’re on stage it becomes about being together. The music kind of transcends that experience,” says Raphaelle.

“The album is very fluid and the live show is too.”

As critics tend to liken one band’s sound to another in order to root it with some kind of familiarity, so BRAIDS seem to be plagued by Animal Collective comparisons.

“I would say we draw as much from Animal Collective as every band in pop music history has drawn from The Beatles,” says Tufts.

“I think I’d like to be compared to Caribou. I feel like a lot of the lines, melodies and guitar lines we write are very, very Caribou. I strive for intricate compositions during the recording process,” continues Raphaelle.

“We were talking about the whole Animal Collective thing and we were just pretending if somebody was interviewing us, they’d be like, ‘So what band would you compare yourself to?’ Korn.”

* 8pm, £8. Call Resident Records (01273 606312) or Rounder Records (01273 325440) to book