Geographer had the somewhat unenviable noon timeslot on the first day of last October’s Treasure Island Music Festival. While most island-bound music enthusiasts were still parking their bikes at AT&T Park, or throwing up all over themselves somewhere in the Mission, the San Francisco-based band stepped out into the sunlight on the main stage to play to an assemblage of devotees and inquisitive early-risers. Josh and I fit into the latter category.

The background photo on the band’s website displays a ghost of a band, spectral images double-exposed in concert at Bottom of the Hill. This seems oddly appropriate, since Geographer has sighed on and off stages all over the City since 2008. That year saw the release of their first full-length, Innocent Ghosts, and earned them “band to watch” praise from Spin magazine. They were “those guys” that opened for Stars at the Fillmore, and that “band with the electric cello” at Amoeba; everywhere and anywhen from gallery openings to Odd Fellows locals to outdoor evenings in Golden Gate Park. Their headlining gig at The Independent last weekend was one of the first Noise Pop shows to sell out.

And there they were on a massive stage, with miles of still-unblemished lawn in front of them, the San Francisco skyline sparkling on a clear October morning. It took only a handful of songs, including “Kites” from their 2010 EP Animal Shapes before Josh realized, “I think I really like these guys.”

With the recent release of Myth (Modern Art Records), this three-piece is prepared to win quite a few more fans. Lead singer Mike Deni’s soaring vocals set the tone and tempo early, creating a softer layer of tracks that soon gives way to more synth, more rhythm, and more of Nathan Blaz’s crazy cello action. “Kites” reappears on the LP, and has turned into the band’s first official video.

Check out one of the album’s standout tracks, “Lover’s Game.”