Writing and practicing in an apartment living room would certainly impede the progress of your average post-grunge rock band, but it's made Semi-Gloss what it is today: a quietly thrilling after-hours pop combo, whose hushed dynamics--as heard on the band's self-titled debut on Dirt Records--perfectly suit Mokriski's sweetly offbeat tales of life and love in the Big Apple. Chiming, repetitive riffs form the basis of evocative songs like "The Sunburn Song," "Eight Million Strong" and "The Majestic," which are in turn fleshed out by Verena Weisendanger's French-accented alto. "I was never that great of a guitarist," Mokriski admits. "I think one of the reasons that we can pull it off is that we work within our means. The songs are based on pretty simple riffs, and rather than trying to make them more complex, we keep them small, and add whatever works with it."

 The combination of minimalist arrangements and Weisendanger's husky vocals has caused some listeners to view Semi-Gloss--which also includes bassist Greg Graf and drummer Dave Berger--as something of a Stereolab rip-off. While Mokriski admits that the 'Lab are one of his favorite bands, he thinks that such accusations are a little misguided.

 "Verena happens to be from Paris, and she happens to play keyboards. Lyrically, we couldn't be further apart from them--our songs are, like, simple little love songs, not Marxist propaganda. When somebody says that, it shows that they're not reading our lyrics at all."