Acclaimed Portland band Priory plays Yakima on Friday

Kyle Dieker and Brandon Johnson clock in just like the rest of us.

They're the two primary songwriters in Portland band Priory, which in the past year released an acclaimed debut album, toured nationally for the first time and opened for Foster the People at the Crystal Ballroom just months after that band's "Saturday Night Live" performance. That's the kind of year they just finished, and still every morning they show up at their recording studio before 9 a.m. and don't leave until 5.

"We enjoy it," said Dieker, a Yakima native, in a phone interview last week. "We love playing and we love touring, but we are constantly working. We want to keep putting out new stuff."

The band's self-titled album is a compelling collection of finely crafted pop harmonies. Like their first offering, 2010's "Cold Hands" EP, the full-length album veers effortlessly from slow-burn to anthem, often in the same song. It is a dynamic sound held together by the strength of the harmonies, and Johnson and Dieker say the new album will carry that aesthetic much further.

He and Johnson, who started Priory in 2008, recruited a new drummer for this album after Rich Preinesberger left last year. Joe Mingus, the new guy, is a session pro from Portland -- "a ringer," Johnson says. Greg Harpel, another Yakima native, remains in place on guitar.

They've found themselves in an unusual place for a band in 2012 in that their label, Portland's Expunged Records, has set them up in their own downtown studio and given them basically all the time they need to complete a sophomore album. They've used the opportunity to write more complex songs with more elaborate instrumentation.

"Essentially we don't have a timeline," Johnson says. "We're at a point right now where we we want to make it as good as possible. So if that means hunkering down for three months, we can do that."

The band will play much of that new material Friday at an all-ages show at the First Presbyterian Church gym. The show, which will also feature local singer-songwriter Chad Bault and local pop group The Village Musicians, was set up by longtime Yakima music-scene mainstay Jeff Murray. Murray, who founded Yakima Valley Community College's Edgefest and is an old friend of Dieker's, works with students at First Presbyterian and set up the concert as a benefit for the American Cancer Society.

In addition to the new songs, Priory plans to introduce elements of a reworked live show featuring lasers and lights and "atmosphere stuff," Dieker says. But that's all window-dressing. The band's stage show -- as evidenced by its stellar performance at The Yakima Sports Center last February -- is primarily about musical intensity.

"It's always high-energy," Dieker says. "Just song after song after song -- here we go."

They're able to maintain that energy on stage because even on the road, Priory has a commitment to professionalism that gives lie to all your notions about rock star excess. They have a drink here and there -- maybe a few of them even -- but they're just as likely to spend their time on the road at a 24-Hour Fitness.

"We're a healthy band," Johnson says. "Touring felt very sustainable. With this upcoming album we plan to be out at least six months."

Until then, it's eight- to 10-hour days in the studio, punching the clock but not minding it a bit.

"Usually a record label is on such a tight schedule," Dieker says. "You crank out the album and you wonder if you have the time to do exactly what you want. We can do exactly what we want. We don't let anything slide."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

If you go

WHAT: Priory with Chad Bault and The Village Musicians.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday.

WHERE: First Presbyterian Church gym, 9 S. Eighth Ave.

ADMISSION: $5; proceeds benefit American Cancer Society.

ONLINE: www.priorymusic.com.