Nothing prickly about the Cactus Blossoms

The two brothers who make up the Cactus Blossoms began playing together six years ago.

"I don't write very much, and at the time, Jack was writing a number of his own songs. I like to sing and harmonize . . . so I just sang with him," Page Burkum says with a laugh, from St. Paul, Minn., referring to his brother Jack, who uses the stage name Jack Torrey.

"It worked out."

Did it ever. The Cactus Blossoms' first nationally distributed album, You're Dreaming, is drawing a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Coproduced by the Twin Cities brothers with Oklahoma roots-rocker J.D. McPherson, it mixes vintage country and rock-and-roll styles with sparkling, Everly Brothers-like harmonies on a set of terrific originals (nine by Torrey, one by Burkum), and one Sun Records chestnut.

As for the Everlys influence: "We were familiar with them - we had their greatest-hits album when we were young . . . and we loved that stuff," says Burkum, 34. But "we didn't start playing by learning Everly Brothers songs or anything like that. . . . As time passed by, I think we found our style going in that direction almost accidentally."

While You're Dreaming contains some infectious, up-tempo numbers such as "Stoplight Kisses" and "Clown Collector," the predominant emotional hue is blue, as a wistful melancholy pervades the album. In "Mississippi," the singer seems to be contemplating suicide, while "If I Can't Win" paints a vivid picture of loneliness.

"One of my strengths is writing slow, sad songs. The fast ones don't come to me as often," says Torrey, 29, who adds that he has been "quite surprised" at the album's reception. "I don't know what people are going to like."

A good part of the appeal no doubt has to do with the way the Cactus Blossoms make the old sound so fresh. Another big fan is Nick Lowe, who has already had the band open for him.

"We're definitely not as nostalgic as people might think we are from hearing our music," Burkum says. "To us, it's about the music. We're not trying to be a time machine or anything like that."

The Cactus Blossoms, with Hurricane Hoss, at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Johnny Brenda's, 1201 Frankford Ave. $10. 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.