If “Radio” by Lab Coast isn’t a perfect song, then it’s pretty darn close. It’s got a dreamy guitar hook, a dose of whispered nostalgia and a heartbreaking chorus. At less than a minute-and-a-half, however, it commands an instant repeat — there’s no chance you’d ever get sick of it.

“There’s kind of a problem we have with having songs that are too short,” says guitarist Chris Dadge. “Even though we have 12 songs, it’s only 20 minutes. We’ve worked really hard on these songs, but they don’t really add up to much. It makes you realize how insane Guided By Voices was.”

The reference to indie rock’s most prolific band is apropos, although Lab Coast avoids GBV’s more dour moments. Its immediately engaging guitar pop doesn’t come easy, though. First frontman David Laing writes the lyrics, then Dadge begins the process of finding the best music to go with it.

“I have this ideal pop sound,” says Laing. “I’ll think it’s finished (but) when we both work together on it, it takes a totally different direction. It’s a really interesting collaborative process.”

“I would sort of search around for the chords,” says Dadge. “It’s like carving away at this sort of block and eventually we get a tune out of it.”

But their history together streamlines the process. Both Dadge and Laing played in Calgary’s Bent Spoon Ensemble with drummer Scott Munro, who also joins them in Lab Coast. With bass player Shawn Dicey in the mix, the result is a four-piece with a love of analogue recording, tapping into the finer moments of any number of Elephant 6 bands.

Having dropped a split 7-inch with Extra Happy Ghost on Calgary’s Saved by Vinyl, Lab Coast is looking to go further. Portland’s Eggy records is working with the band for a 20-minute EP in the New Year. In true ’90s lo-fi fashion, it will be released on cassette, but you won’t have to be a luddite to enjoy it.

“We like to have nice tunes with nice melodies so that there is a sound going on, but also if you stripped it down to just a guitar and a voice, we’d still sound good,” says Dadge. “Even if it sounds a certain way and (it has) a certain sheen, or lack of sheen, (there are) still going to be some good tunes underneath.”