Most come to DC9 expecting – to some degree – a warts and all show that leaves a little to be desired. One thing you don’t tend to expect is the kind of polish that came from The Hatch last night. Formed at Washington University in St. Louis, relocated to L.A. to record and practice, they’re now calling New York home, hunkering down in an apartment/rehearsal space and starting a residency at Piano’s next month. And all that practice and time together has served them well – they’re an extremely tight band, well-trained in all their songs’ melodic turns.

Their MySpace page will tell you all you need to know about how they sound – it’s a lot like Maroon 5. But, as one friend put it (with mild derision), “The lead singer sounds more like Rob Thomas than Adam Levine.” So you kinda get what we’re working with here. But since we here at DCist aren’t in the business of dismissing musical taste wholesale, let’s discuss.

They kicked off with a slightly hollow, yet assured “New York City Women,” and moved into the rollicking, vaguely post-punk “Dancefloor.” “Morning” featured the set’s strongest melody – a clean slice of pop melancholy – but also earned the above Rob Thomas comment. The Hatch’s best tune by some distance, “A Place Like This…”, even had some unexpected twists; played hard and aggressive, it was the sort of modern rock that could get this band a hit someday. And, all things considered, their cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me Up” was perfectly competent, if not exactly what you might expect Maroon 5 disciples covering Bill Withers to sound like.