"We're just trying to write good songs, and play hard," says The Playing Cards tireless guitarist/vocalist Cole Woods (Right Through, Cannon Bros.) about an hour after jamming with a few friends.

"We get compared to pop-rock stuff all across the board," Woods continues. "Thrush Hermit, Pavement, lots of '90s noisier, louder bands like Dinosaur Jr. These are the bands people say we sound like."

Fans of guitar-fixated indie tunes and dueling alterna-rock will find The Playing Cards deal the goods they dig in all the suits in the deck. The post-everything rock quartet began about six years ago when a then-pre-teen Woods and his 12-year-old drummer pal Rob Gardiner started jamming. Fast-forward six years, and the lineup now includes a jazz-infused/Zappa-influenced Woods and the diligent Gardiner (Right Through) with guitarist/singer Alannah Walker (The Wonderful Pipes, Cannon Bros., The 16) and bassist David Schellenberg (Mount Nolan).

"We like to play the three-to-four-minute pop songs," Woods informs.

Those pop nuggets are showcased on The Playing Cards two independently released discs: the full-length Fight Forward (2007) and the Underwater EP (2009). These recordings - and the bands' recent exuberant live shows at the Pyramid Cabaret and the Lo Pub - caught the attention of CKUW 95.9 FM outreach and sponsorship coordinator Ted Turner, a big fan of indie pop rock.

"He asked us to play the CKUW Fundrive 2010 Wrap Up show at the Lo Pub on Feb. 12 with The Middle Names," says Woods. U street-beatin' radio fans can check out more about all this by visiting CKUW.ca or searching The Playing Cards at MySpace.

"We're going to play a lot of new songs at the show," Woods continues. "Maybe a few covers. The songs that we play now are lots of new songs that we haven't titled yet - or the titles are pretty tentative."

"We have a few songs with guitarmony solos - one's called Dog Song and the other doesn't have a name."

Woods says he's a big fan of Frank Zappa, citing the great prolific composer as one of his favourite guitarists: "I really like Frank Zappa. I've taken quite a lot of time to learn the songs off of the Hot Rats album, unsuccessfully, I might add."

Whatever his take on Zappa's zaps, Woods agrees his axe of choice - like Zappa - is most def the Gibson SG.

"Zappa played an SG," Woods says. "It's pretty fat-sounding. Sometimes I play an old Strat, but mostly the SG."

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