Paul Maroon recently drove into what he thought was an alley. The alley turned out, however to be a Northeastern sidewalk.

“I was driving my Volvo around, and all of these students were just staring at me,” said The Walkmen guitarist.

Maroon’s recent experience at the university would not be his last. His band plays at afterHOURS on Friday. The show will be their second of three in the Boston area this spring.

Students may be familiar with The Walkmen from their biggest single, “The Rat.” They may also remember when the band performed on the second season of “The OC.” Playing the songs “What’s In It For Me” and “Little House of Savages” from their second album “Bows + Arrows,” they now join the company of bands like The Killers, Interpol and Death Cab for Cutie on “The OC’s” soundtrack.

Despite the presence of Benjamin McKenzie, Mischa Barton and others from the television show’s cast, performing on “The OC” was not an exciting experience for The Walkmen, Maroon said.

“It was really boring,” he said. “You sit there all day. When you play in a band, it’s very action-packed. There’s not a lot of sitting around.”

Playing on one of Fox Broadcasting Company’s most-watched shows may have helped The Walkmen’s popularity. Still, Maroon said he hasn’t noticed a change.

“I’m not sure that it helped that much,” he said. “I don’t know. We tend to draw an older crowd, but maybe it helped. It definitely hasn’t changed the demographic.”

The Walkmen, consisting of five Washington, D.C. natives, have been together for six years and its influences are “the greats” like Bob Marley, Johnny Cash and The Kinks, Maroon said. He described the band’s sound as “tight melodic-rock” and said it is “sort of half Bob Dylan, half The Cramps.”

While making television appearances and doing shows on weekends, The Walkmen have found time to prepare its third album, “A Hundred Miles Off.” It “stakes out fresh and colorful new ground,” according to the band’s Web site. “A Hundred Miles Off” will not be released until May 23, but students will get to hear new material at the afterHOURS show. Maroon said students should also expect a performance of “The Rat.”

Devon Trevelyan and Alpha Juliet will open for The Walkmen. Trevelyan is a senior, music and philosophy major at Northeastern and plays the piano. Alpha Juliet has been together since 2002 and has undergone several changes in its line-up. It is currently comprised of six members, including original members Asher Pacht and Josiah Proietti, both Northeastern alumni.

Pacht described Alpha Juliet’s music as “unconventional rock and roll” driven by melodies and influenced by artists like Ben Folds. Proietti compared their songwriting style to Ani Difranco and their format to Radiohead.

They are excited to perform with The Walkmen and respect the band’s approach, Proietti said.

“I feel like they have a really good attitude about it and they’re committed to their music,” Pacht said. “They seem like they have a lot of fun and they’re not just all about posturing, getting famous and stuff like that.”

Maroon said although he does not know what the future will bring for his band besides several weeks of touring and the release of a new album, he feels optimistic about the upcoming performance.

“I think that we’re going to kick butt,” Maroon said. “Yeah, we’re going to kick everyone’s butt.”

Friday’s show is part of a concert series put on by the Kappa Sigma fraternity with afterHOURS. It will begin at 9 p.m. and is free for students.