Library Hits the Right Notes

Twenty-something hipsters united at the main concert stage in Hollywood hotspot Cinespace Sunday night to the self-described electro-dance pop sounds of the Library.

The very mention of libraries and electro-dance pop together in the same sentence is incongruous, but the Los Angeles-based band is anything but conventional. Providing the voice to the quintet is the boy band cute Court Alexander, 27. He is tall and has a
commanding persona on stage and off. His soaring vocals are reminiscent of another singer in a band that he shrugs off when their name is mentioned: Maroon 5. There are worse comparisons that one could be compared to than the famous Grammy-award winning multiplatinum band.

Keyboardist Matt Blackmar, 24, and Steve Lopez, 25, who plays guitar and keyboards, formed the Library a year ago in its current incarnation with the "right mix of people" from MySpace and Craigslist. Rounding out the band is bassist Sean Krell, 25, and drummer Dave Lewis.
Krell and Blackmar point to Lopez as the "autocrat and dictator" of the band, otherwise the songwriter, but possibly something more sinister. You can't tell with the lot of them in one room together what is up or down.

It's difficult to get a completely straight answer from anyone. Case in point, they couldn't quite pin down their musical influences as it differs from person to person. But a few bands and artists they
did mention were Radiohead, Mars Volta, Philip Glass, David Axelrod, and Chick Corea. With such divergent influences, it's hard to peg exactly where their sound originated.

Sam Sparro is a better contemporary comparison than Maroon 5. The soulful warblings of Alexander and the band's
electro pop sound is easily comparable
to Sparro. Their eight-song set Sunday night
began minutes before midnight. In their first headlining performance at Cinespace, they call the club their "home." They've played the venue many times and have steadily drawn in a number of fans that follow the band.

"Hipsters like us, 30 year olds that like
Motley Cure don't. They pretend they do," said Lopez. Samantha Ward, 21, and her sister
Courtney, 18, have seen the band four
times. The appeal is their lyrics, sound
and they "are so fun to look at. And the
singer is amazing."

The danceable tunes had people in the room on their feet for the entire 30-minute set. Alexander drew the audience in closer to the stage for the band's final number, "You Don't Need No Doctor Sugar," a soaring coup de grace.

The band's long-term goal is to finish their first album by February 2009 and to sign with a major record company.

In the meantime, they have two more shows to cap the year off: Dec. 10 at Boardner's and Dec. 16 at the Key Club.