Luke Sweeney returns to Fernwood in Big Sur.

A couple years ago, Luke Sweeney had a vision that had Internet sensation written all over it. We’re talking potential to join YouTube royalty like “Chocolate Rain,” “sneezing panda” and most recently, the “apparently kid.”

The premise was inspired by the band audition ads that regularly sprout up on Craigslist, especially in the San Francisco area.

Sweeney’s initial plan: audition for a bunch of random San Francisco bands that he’s unfamiliar with, as a fictitious character who’s unaware of his lack of musical talent.

“I wanted to either fail [the audition] miserably or wig the band out,” he says. “It would’ve been tricky; I would have had to use hidden cameras or pretend MTV was following my search for a band.”

Two years later, when it came time to make a video for “Miss Me?,” the first single off Sweeney’s forthcoming full-length debut Adventure: Us, to be released Oct. 14 on CD, vinyl and limited edition colored vinyl, the “Failed Audition Tapes” idea presented a nifty narrative.

Sweeney called up a bunch of his musician buddies in local bands – including Burning Curtains, a side project from Two Gallants’ Tyson Vogel – and his idea was realized.

The montage of several phoney auditions features Sweeney trying out for different bands using everything from an oversized tambourine and Fisher Price xylophone to a toy ukulele and a squeezebox. His character is oblivious to the dirty looks he gets; he thinks he’s rocking out like Billy Idol.

It all adds up to a goofy throwback to MTV’s glory days when Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” and anything by David Lee Roth and The Cars were so odd and unsettling it was nearly impossible to change the channel.

Musically, “Miss Me?” is straightforward ’60s garage pop. But don’t expect a full album of similar-sounding tracks; “The record is all over the place,” Sweeney says.

The second single “Doin’ It To You” is delicious blue-eyed soul meets San Francisco psych-pop. Airy harmonies and organ riffs that could have been swiped from a Sons of Champlin record give it additional juice.

Now all Sweeney has to do is come up with another idea for a video.

LUKE SWEENEY 10pm Saturday, Aug. 16, at Fernwood, 47200 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free. 667-2422.