While most bands hungry for exposure resort to press releases and promotional flyers, Minneapolis locals Sleeping in the Aviary defied the norm and went where no rock âÄònâÄô roll band had gone before: They made an infomercial.

Featuring music from their latest album âÄúYou and Me, Ghost,âÄù Sleeping in the AviaryâÄôs 13-minute production is a tongue-in-cheek homage to all those late night advertisements youâÄôve probably fallen asleep to once or twice.

âÄúWe had been kicking around the idea for a couple years and just never did it. So we were just like âÄònow or never,âÄôâÄù lead singer Elliott Kozel said. âÄúWe really couldâÄôve done it with any [album] but I think it works for this since the songs all sound like oldies.âÄù

But in addition to their innovative promotional strategy, the garage-rock vagrants seem to have also hit a creative stride musically too. Their forthcoming album is a retro hodgepodge of freewheeling rock âÄònâÄô roll and proto-punk crunch that sees the band sounding more focused and realized than ever before.

From the buoyant pop assault of âÄúTalking out of TurnâÄù and âÄúSomeone Loves YouâÄù to the quaint âÄô50s-era innocence of âÄúKaren, YouâÄôre an AngelâÄù and âÄúInfatuation,âÄù the bandâÄôs melodies are as smart as they are infectious and are packed with just the right amount of snark and sneer.

Perhaps Sleeping in the AviaryâÄôs most commendable feat is their ability to take some of the most basic elements of early rock âÄònâÄô roll and mold their music into something that sounds entirely original. Balancing the old with the new, there are dashes of fuzz and aural bluster that sit beneath all the traditional chord progressions and lush harmonies. For instance, âÄúSo LonelyâÄù opens like any other assembly-line surf-rock ditty, only to explode into a swirl of screeching guitar solos and psychedelic noise.

But even if âÄúYou and Me, GhostâÄù sounds like a calculated masterpiece, Kozel and his band-mates insist that it all happened naturally.

âÄúIt wasnâÄôt aimed to be anything. It just sounded that way. It was just a conscious decision,âÄù Kozel said. âÄúItâÄôs usually pretty organic.âÄù

For whatever reason, Sleeping in the Aviary continues to be, for the most part, overlooked by local press outlets. And in a music scene where mediocrity is widely celebrated, it makes them this cityâÄôs best-kept secret. But whether they get your attention or not, it doesnâÄôt sound like theyâÄôll be checking out anytime soon.