Pulling up to the house in Jackson where The Big Sweet is holding their weekly practice, we can hear echoes of rim shots and bass from the driveway. “I told them to turn it down,” apologized Nick Regas, the father of lead singer and guitarist Sam, who met us at the door. “I don’t think they did.” And frankly, they won’t: The Big Sweet’s star is still rising, and there’s no telling how high the parabola will go. The four-piece indie-pop group is intimately familiar with the Northeast Ohio venue circuit, having played at Musica, House of Blues and the Tangier. They’re staples at the Beachland, where they opened for The Smithereens on April 29. And they’re still not legally allowed to have a post-gig beer. The Big Sweet is composed of four musicians all finishing up their junior year of high school: Sam Regas; Brad Berbari (guitar, some keyboard and backup vocals); Matt McDonald (bass); and Drew Watson (drums). Today they’re playing off their upcoming album, “Ultraviolet Rain.” The song “Cyanide Rain” pairs an insistent bass line with the incongruous plunks of a xylophone. “Empty Movie Reels” is a textural, catchy tune with a commandingly hollow beginning beat. This isn’t the kind of half-formed Jonas Brothers sound you might expect from a group that formed when its members were 14. When I ask Sam what their musical influences are, I expect him to rattle off a catalog of the obvious — the Beatles, Green Day, maybe the Ramones to keep things edgy. Instead, he pauses thoughtfully. “The big band for me, especially early, was probably Pavement. That was the band I was really into for a while,” he said. “Definitely Television, XTC and older baroque pop like The Zombies. Brian Wilson. It’s pretty varied. Wilco.” I’ve been schooled. And the other members have similarly advanced tastes — Sonic Youth, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel. Sophisticated influences mean that The Big Sweet’s audience tends to be older than the teen demographic they belong to — though they nonetheless trounced other high-school competitors to win the Canton Repository Battle of the Bands in 2010. “We’re kind of in a weird spot,” said McDonald. “Our music appeals to people in their late 20s or early 30s. We don’t sound like many bands our age.” “We don’t sound like Wiz Khalifa,” added Berbari. Maybe not, but they do sound good. Their second album (following last April’s debut, “Shot of Bliss”) will be released at the Auricle during Canton’s First Friday in June, and it’s a consistently catchy, solid album, with psychedelic elements and unconventional touches. “I feel like the songs are a lot more cohesive [than ‘Shot of Bliss’]. They were written in a form where the songs flow continuously,” said Sam. (He writes the songs, with help from the others.) “We wanted to retain a sense of melody, so there’s a unifying sense in the album.” “It’s the same level of upbeat poppy music but it’s more experimental,” said Watson. “It’s a modern psychedelic album,” added McDonald. As the music (and the band) matures, the tendency to view them as a high-school novelty has faded in favor of real respect as musicians. “In a lot of ways they say, ‘Oh, you’re really good for your age.’ That’s the classic one, and I’ve always felt it’s almost like a backhanded compliment. Either they really appreciate our music for what it is or they give the compliment,” said Sam. “But we’re starting to outgrow that now. At least, we’re taken more seriously than we were 14 and looked like we were 12.” Watson pointed out that though their youth is often the initial appeal, the music retains their audience. “Our age will draw people in, but our music will keep them listening,” he said. How does the group manage to stay together — difficult for even the most lung-blackened, devil-may-care, hard-touring musician, let alone four guys who still have a prom to face? “We have common musical tastes, common interests, good chemistry,” said Berbari. “There’s no drama in the band,” said Sam. “We all get along really well.” Still, there’s a smack of the adolescent in all of us. The band tells me that “Shot of Bliss” was ranked on Absolute Powerpop’s Top 100. “We were number 69,” said Sam. I try to swallow a laugh, until I see all four of them smirking. “We’re trying not to make it any better this time, so we can keep our ranking,” Berbari said. Guess even 16-year-old Wilco fans — or, hell, 24-year-old Buzzbin editors — aren’t above a little junior-high humor. Catch the Big Sweet at the Auricle  on June 3. Cover is $2 cover; doors open at 6:30.