Don't call Daytrader a throwback band

Daytrader singer Tym laughs when asked to describe the band's sound.

"[Guitarist] Gary and I went to high school in Smithtown together," he says. "I went to Brand New's first show. We saw Taking Back Sunday when they were playing with ska bands. That Long Island sound -- it's in our blood."

One listen to the band's new "Twelve Years" (Rise) album and you can hear the influence -- that early emo combination of punk guitars and emotional lyrics, especially in the catchy "Letter to a Former Lover" and "Firebreather." But Daytrader isn't living in the past.

"We're not a throwback band," Tym says. "We put a modern spin on it. It's a piece of our DNA, but not the whole thing."

Tym says "Twelve Years" didn't turn out the way the band expected, with a far wider variety of rock styles and lyrical moods than they thought they would have. "We just locked ourselves in a basement in Queens and wrote a lot of songs," he says. "We chose the best ones, and we're happy with how it turned out."

Though Daytrader isn't even two years old yet, the band already has racked up two impressive albums and countless tours -- a pace Tym expects to continue, with tours with The Early November, Silverstein and Major League already lined up this summer.

"We're no spring chickens," he says, adding that the band members are all in their mid-20s. "We just want to go out and do it."

Daytrader plays Day Three of Today's Mixtape Festival next Sunday at Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, 38 Old Country Rd., Garden City. Tickets are $15 through tickets .liecc.com.

Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow @ndmusic on Twitter.