There is a lot of laughter in The Vegas Room, the Rat Pack-worthy basement of Gavin Spencer, where he and his band mates from The Rebel Set have gathered for a post-rehearsal interview. The musicians — Tom Gilliam (vocals, lead guitar), Spencer (upright bass, vocals, harmonica, accordion), Jason Johantges (rhythm guitar), Ken Hall (piano, organ, trombone) and Adam Kempf (drums, trumpet) — are sitting around a curved bar drinking a mix of domestic and imported beers.

The conversation frequently dissolves into in-jokes about hair metal, Milli Vanilli, Billy Zabka and other subjects but the topic always, eventually, returns to The Rebel Set's smoking debut CD, "Ghost Town Silence."

The new disc is a rootsy affair with touches of rockabilly, power pop, country, surf and even new wave. Despite the disparate influences of these five musicians, which range in age from 25 to 33, the Rebel Set has managed to twist their influences into a unique and focused sound all its' own.

"We all grew up with different kinds of music so we all bring different backgrounds and musical genres and they all mix together to make the songs go in a certain direction," Kempf said. "As long as we're happy with how it sounds we don't worry if it's alt-country enough or rockabilly enough."

"I think it helps us," Johantges said. "We don't get pigeonholed nor do we sound like one particular genre. We're very flexible in what we can play."

Two tracks, "Radio" and "#130," were recorded at Babblefish Studios, but the bulk of the material was recorded in the Vegas Room by Patrick Himes and has a vibrant, live feel.

"Babblefish is a studio," Spencer said. "The tracks with Patrick were recorded right here in this room."

"We recorded at the perfect time because we had played a crapload of shows over the summer," Johantges said. "We were tight."

"Well, as tight as we get," Spencer said. "We kind of pride ourselves on being a loose, bar band and that's probably when we shine the most."

"The stuff we did at Babblefish was polished," Gilliam said. "The stuff Patrick did with us here has this raw, '60s vibe going. It sounds a lot more real. He really knows how we sound live and that's what we wanted."

The Rebel Set celebrates the release of Ghost Town Silence at Oregon Express on Saturday, March 29 along with special guests Hqax and Appalachian Heartache.

HOW TO GO

Who: The Rebel Set with Hqax and Appalachian Heartache.

Where: Oregon Express, 336 E. Fifth St., Dayton.

When: 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29.

Cost: $5.

More info: (937) 223-0540 or www.myspace.com/oregonexpress