New York City is awash in bands trying to reinvent the rock of the 60s and 70s or the new wave of the 80s. On!Air!Library! isn't one of them. On April 6th 2004, this trio, made up of twin sisters Alley and Claudia Deheza and Phillip Wann, will release a self-titled album that looks not to the past but the future. It's an album built from electronic sounds and textures, then matched with mood-appropriate beats and layered vocals from all three members.

A daringly diverse set of songs that look at pop through a prism, On!Air!Library!'s first full-length for The Arena Rock Recording Company finds the band using its atmospherics as a jumping off point. Guitars echo and ricochet about as drums, samples and vocals swirl together cohesively, creating a hypnotic blend not heard since Portishead were in their prime.

Some of the tracks were recorded in Wann's bedroom studio with Aaron Shoblaske, who engineered O!A!L!'s split EP with The Album Leaf, while others were given the proper studio treatment by producer Steve Rivette (Beastie Boys, Liars, Jon Spencer). The album reflects an aesthetic step forward for the band. "Our early recordings were more focused in that they were uniformly moody and rather downbeat," explains Wann. "Our individual personalities are definitely more evident on the full-length. And it's poppier, which we all love."

It's also defined by its painstakingly crafted songs, like the entrancing "Bread," which features soaring vocals by both Dehezas and explosive drumming by Brad Conroy of The Boggs. The noisy, frenetic "Bambalance," showcases O!A!L!'s experimental side, while the alluring opener, "Faultered Ego," develops a groove around ringing guitars and a staccato drumbeat by another guest percussionist, Sam Fogarino of Interpol. There are also moments of 4AD-style pop updated with electronic programming ("Fell To Earth"), sad, hopeful balladry ("i95") and surging new wave-inflected pop ("User28").

On!Air!Library! took their name from an African documentary featuring an old man who read books on a radio show that he called "The On Air Library". Alley, Claudia and Phillip have evolved the band's sound over the past five years, both recording and playing around New York City at underground parties as well as opening for their friends and likeminded label-mates...Calla.

Though their new songs recall the inventive spirit of the Velvet Underground and fit in alongside current contemporaries like Interpol and the Rapture, O!A!L! are more likely to find inspiration in some of the odd answering machine messages that Phillip collects (and which pepper the new album) than in their neighbors' work.

Alley insists that O!A!L! avoid being part of any scene saying "That sort of thinking is a counter-creative trap." And as Phillip points out, the band refuse to adhere to the regular labels. "We're too experimental for the rockers and too pop for the experimental bands," he says, aptly summing up O!A!L!'s unique appeal. Why listen to retreads when you can hear a band pushing the boundaries of melodic rock and electronic music? The name of the band, and the album, is On!Air!Library!