Listeners appreciate band’s distinct sound, originality

By Jenny Jones
Staff Writer

Friends of the modern, smoky-sounding Mab Lab, an Indianapolis-based band, have a hard time describing the band's sound.

Kate Lamont, lead vocalist and organist, said, "We think it sounds pretty original, and it's pretty cool that other people are having the same response to it."

Mab Lab will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday at Lucky's, 210 N. 6th St. in Lafayette. There will be a $4 cover charge.

Writing their own music, the band said they often sit down and just start playing. If they hear something they like, they hit record.

"It just kind of happens," Lamont said.

Although band members can play a variety of instruments, such as guitar, drums, organ, bass and keyboard, Lamont said they usually pick which instruments to use according to the arrangement of each song.

All the different sounds the band mixes together result in a dark, jazzy, bluesish type of music.

"It's not really a carbon copy of anything," said Lamont.

Many of the band's lyrics draw on its members' impressions of how they view the world and how they wish the world could be.

Lamont said the band draws from a lot of introspection, but there is also universality in the group's lyrics.

E.M. Brown, lyricist and drummer for Mab Lab, said he wants people to feel positive and creative when they listen to the band.

"(We want people) to come away with inspiration and something very emotional as well," said Brown.

Audience members can expect a good time, with lots of energy and dancing, at Mab Lab's upcoming performance, said Brown.

"You could see us two or three nights in a row and not see the same stuff," he said.

Mab Lab's album, "Features and Controls," is available at Von's; the band has ambitions of creating another album while keeping their sound distinct, said Lamont.

For more information about Mab Lab visit http://www.mablab.com.

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Features editor:
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