Pull up Why?’s MySpace page and the first thing you’ll hear are familiar words amid unfamiliar sonics: “I’ve waited hours for this/ I’ve made myself so sick/ I wish I’d stayed/ Asleep today.�

Of course, that’s the opening lyric to the Cure’s “Close to Me,� one of the upbeat, snazzy compositions that helped define the band’s popularity throughout the ’80s and ’90s. Why? frontman Yoni Wolf sometimes overdoses on songs, listening to them over and over and over again, and when he was laying into “Close to Me� recently, he realized something about the poppy dance track.

“After maybe the fiftieth listen, it struck me that lyric-wise, it is a very dark song,� Wolf said earlier this week, advancing a tour that brings him to Denver’s Hi-Dive on Friday, April 11. “The production style they chose is at odds with this, and there-in lies much of the interest and tension in the song.

“But after hearing the song so much, I start singing it in my head throughout the day, and whenever the words would pop into my head, it would be in this very dark sluggish way, so I thought I’d give it a shot recording it that way just for fun. I had no intention of putting it out or anything, I just did it as an exercise in production and sort of for this girl that I’m seeing. I played it for my friend Shaun and he asked if he could put it up on the Internet and I said ‘sure.’ �

The Why? cover is a headtrip, a psychedelic wash of thick builds and frail vocals that actually fit the song’s lyrical mindset. Leave it to Oakland’s Why? to translate a Cure song into a different language, which is basically a different brand of lovable pop wallowing.

We caught up with Wolf before his band’s Denver show on April 11 to talk about his friends, his music and his band’s new record, “Alopecia.�

The Cure’s Robert Smith has a unique way of telling stories, and I’m wondering if you guys are at all drawn to his lyrical style, which is often (like yours) heavy on the narrative.

Yes. I like his lyrics.

Speaking of the narratives that make up your guys’ songs, are most of them from the real world or from your minds?

It is a combination of both. I tend to write from real life and embellish if necessary for emphasis, dramatic effect or sarcasm.

How did the writing/recording of “Alopecia� differ from your previous records?

“Alopecia� was written over a couple of years, and I made demos for all the songs at home. But the actual recording process was fairly brief (only about 5 or 6 weeks). The older stuff was all recorded at home over long periods of time with no demos. They were recorded layer by layer. Much of “Alopecia� was recorded relatively live with five or so things being tracked at once.

Is there a central theme to the record that was either intentional or accidental?

We don’t set out to have specific themes for our records, but inevitably there will be threads that naturally occur. I’m not sure exactly what they are just yet. It’s too early for me to know really.

Yoni, some have written that you write your rock lyrics as if they were hip-hop lyrics. What do you think of that observation?

Maybe they’re right, in that they are personal and specific and I don’t use cliche generalities so much (or at least I try not to) like a lot of rock and pop tends towards. I also tend to think pretty rhythmically, so I guess there’s that.

I’ve long thought you guys make some of the most sonically challenging indie rock out there — alongside bands like Cloud Cult, Mountain Goats, Sparklehorse and Akron/Family. What are your thoughts about the current state of indie rock?

I don’t know much about the current state of indie rock. I tend to listen to older music.

Please write a sentence or two about each of the bands in your Top 4 on the MySpace. Thoughts, praise, anecdotes, relationships, whatever.

Fog: Two of these guys (Andrew Broder and Mark Erickson) played on “Alopecia� as integral members of the band. We have known these guys a while. They are good friends.
Yo La Tengo: We toured with these folks a while back. They are the sweetest people and were super accommodating. We try to see them every chance we get.
Islands: These guys are nuts. We also toured with them a while back. These guys are bad for our mellowness. They put us in party mode.
Deerhoof: One of the sickest live shows we’ve seen. We are friends with them from The Bay. They taught us to tour in a minivan.

Why? plays an early, all-ages show at the Hi-Dive on Friday with Achille Lauro and Team Awesome! Tickets, $10, are available at hi-dive.com.

– Ricardo Baca