Onstage at Monterey Live, four men dressed in black suits and Lone Ranger-style masks tell a dark story of drugs, violence and naked bodies. As a crowd dances in front of them, the original Monterey rock quartet led by singer-guitarist Goatfish Johnson spins the disturbing tale over a slinky rock groove. Then the song heads in an unexpected direction: Its pulse quickens dramatically, becoming a percussion-heavy salsa instrumental aided by a blaring saxophone. During this strange minute-long segment in The Suborbitals’ original “405,” audience members that were formerly bobbing from side to side are now moving like dancers at a Latin dancing clinic. A few feet from the dance floor, a seated gentleman starts striking the table in front of him with drumsticks to match the frantic beat.

A minute later, the band suddenly stops, the salsa music recedes and Johnson is back singing lines like, “Eat the contraband, drive the car…” over an ebbing bassline.

While the band’s bassist, the suspiciously named Aloysius Featherbottom, shifts his bare feet on the venue’s stage, Johnson starts playing another original titled “Sub,” which begins with some woozy surf rock-sounding guitar parts that are accompanied by Pentonciano de Fiasco’s flute (which he temporarily traded in for his standard-issue saxophone). Once again, the song takes an unexpected detour as Johnson starts to spit its chorus in a way that recalls legendary punk vocalist Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys.

Though The Suborbitals play what could be described as straight rock music, these sudden shifts—along with their unconventional inclusion of a saxophone player and oftentimes otherwordly lyrics—distinguishes the group from its peers. One moment the band recalls the earnest rock of the Dave Matthews Band, while at others it seems to be channeling the spacey rock of David Bowie or Ween.

Unlike other rock outfits, The Suborbitals’ first gig was not held in a barroom or at a coffeeshop’s open mic night. Rather, the band initially came together to play a party for the release of the Anthology of Monterey Bay Poets at the Pacific Grove Art Center in January of 2005. Though Johnson (who’s also known as Ryan Masters—full disclosure: he also goes by Masters when working as a staff writer for the Weekly) admits that the venue’s sound that night was shoddy, the singer and guitarist got something out of the band’s first public appearance. “We realized we had something good together,” he says.

That summer, with Featherbottom, a Berklee School of Music graduate, and drummer Fendel Yonkers, a former member of Monterey band Super Duper, in tow, Johnson began a series of Thursday evening shows at Ocean Thunder. There, The Suborbitals became known for playing a mix of super-catchy originals like “Treacherous” and revamped covers including a bossa nova take on Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.”

“For a while, it was just us and the barflies at Ocean Thunder,” Johnson says. “Then it picked up.”

By March 2005, the group was not only drawing a sizeable Thursday night following, but had also accumulated a mass of polished originals, so they built a studio in Yonkers’ Pacific Grove garage. The recording space, dubbed Substandard Studios, also housed dunes of children’s toys that were waiting to be moved to Yonkers’ children’s toys consignment store, Pacific Grove’s Chatter Baux Shoppe.

After a grueling year and a half in the homemade studio, The Suborbitals are emerging with their self-recorded debut CD titled Blackout Rolling. The 13-song release includes the narcotic, deep ocean-sounding “Aquanaut” and live favorites like the blues rave-up “New Orleans.”

Johnson says that the songs were written over a 16-year period that started when he was 17 years old. The decade and a half stint included times when the songwriter resided in Alaska and Taiwan. Some of the band’s most poetic and haunting material—“Cold Hard Hands,” “Absentia Soleil”—was penned by Johnson in Alaska after his roommate and close friend died in a canoeing accident.

Johnson contends that he has written hundreds of songs, including 30 numbers played by The Suborbitals. “Musically, it’s my life’s work,” he says.

But Johnson admits that his songs have been further shaped by the contributions of his bandmates, including Fiasco, who just joined the group this past spring. “The Suborbitals make the songs so much better,” he says. “It’s such a profound contribution that I share writing credit with them.”

Despite the loyal local crowds and the new CD—for sale at local shows and available online for free at suborbitals.com—Johnson has modest plans for The Suborbitals. “We have almost no expectations for the band,” he says. “We all have careers and we are not going to be driving up the coast [for a tour] anytime soon.”

THE SUBORBITALS play Monterey Live, located at 414 Alvarado St. in Monterey, this Wednesday at 8:30pm. No cover. 375-5483.