St. Louis alt glam foursome Living Things are in a roller coaster car that seems to be perpetually rising — not that it hasn’t been a wild ride to this point.

In their eight years together, they have: Had an album place in the top 50 of the year in Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, had a song featured in a cell phone commercial, been featured with supermodel Kate Moss in a Just Cavalli fashion campaign and been confirmed to play the Ramones in an upcoming Joan Jett biopic. They’ll rock Pointfest Sunday at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater (on at 2:30 pm.)

Beyond the periphery stuff, the Things’ music is undeniably fetching. Singer and guitarist Lillian Berlin, his two brothers Eve and Bosh and childhood friend Cory Becker honed their sound in the Berlin basement in West County. In fact, until recently, most of their recordings were done in that basement, just a stone’s throw throw from Sunday’s venue.

Their current album, Habeas Corpus, has enjoyed critical and commercial success. Their sound is Point-ready, but guitar hook-laden songs like Oxygen and Let it Rain carry a heavier payload than most of the bands you’ll see Sunday.

I reached Lillian by phone in Los Angeles as the band prepared to begin their tour with the Cult in San Diego. Lillian came across as lovely as his name does — a thoughtful guy with a genuine excitement about whatever he was discussing. He didn’t at all sound like someone who would, say, urinate onstage to douse a burning Bush. That is to say, a photo of G-Dub that he had set afire moments earlier.

We’ll see what kind of demonry he gets into on Sunday.

***

RC: Are you looking forward to touring with cult?

LB: It’s going to be great. I hadn’t listened to them much growing up but I think they’re phenomenal.

RC: You grew up near the Verizon, correct?

LB: Right behind it, near Creve Coeur Park. When I was young, my mom took me to that crazy Guns N’ Roses riot show. That was my first concert outside of me and brothers playing gigs for the YMCA and JCCA. It was pretty funny, I was in sixth grade and was expecting to go be a geek like everyone else and watch the show. Half way through it, Axel leaves the stage and there was a huge uproar. My eyes were wide open. I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is what a rock show is like?’ The next show I went to was Lollapalooza when Eddie Vedder climbed up one of the soundstages. Shows aren’t like that anymore — unless you come to a Living Things show! I try to inject some of that into our shows.

RC: What are the downsides of being a tour opener?

LB: I always look at the upside - I like shows that are a bit more unexpected. When you’re an opener, you don’t always have time to do a sound check and you can’t plan as much. The unexpected is what I love the most. The only negative is that the venue isn’t full when we go on.

RC: Where did your political awareness come from?

LB: A lot of reading. Our mother was very politically aware. She taught us to go to school and be critical of what the teacher was telling us, don’t just trust what you hear. We write about the American dream being broken. Over my lifetime it’s felt broken.

RC: You’ve paid a price for your lyrics, correct?

LB: During the Bush era we ran into problems with people not agreeing with some of our lyrics. I’m anti violence. In war, obviously, violence exists. Outside of war, there is no use for using a gun or a knife on a human being. A lot of that was going on in the last decade. I hope that outlaw cowboy mentality is gone for good.

RC: You’ve met some interesting people so far.

LB: We’ve met a lot of interesting people. It came full circle when we opened for Axel Rose in Brazil.

RC: Is St. Louis still home?

LB: We’re In St. Louis over 50% of the year when we’re not touring. I love St. Louis. It’s quiet, the loop is great and the Moonrise Hotel is excellent. I love going to Blueberry Hill to see Chuck Berry. Vintage Vinyl is still the best record store in the country — and I’ve been to tons of stores. St. Louis is a place where you can think and be inspired. We came up with so many songs in mom’s basement, I could never replace that experience.

RC: Have you altered your career path at all to fall in line with your beliefs?

LB: I’m not anti-money or establishment, I’m anti-abuse of power. I believe in the American dream, so for me to go out and make a living, have a family, car, job and money in bank is important.

Pointfest

Sunday, Verizon Wireless Amp., $35

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