A couple of years ago it seemed like The Uninvited were always playing their "last show." It got to be kind of a joke. "The last time at Doc''s" was followed by "the last show with Bill on bass," etc. But The Uninvited doesn''t need doomsday hype to draw a crowd.

The witty, let-your-hair-down, party band--kind of a pre-arena Huey Lewis and the News meets the Reverend Horton Heat--plays straight-ahead rock ''n'' roll with tongue-in-cheek lyrics. The band is fronted by a pair of brothers who "don''t smack each other too much," John "JT" Taylor (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Steve Taylor (vocals, guitar and banjo), who formed the group in a Los Angeles garage in 1988.

That year, The Uninvited introduced their self-described "LA-Post-New-Wave-Cow-Punk" to the world at a gig at the infamous Madame Wong''s. For the next five years the band rehearsed, wrote, recorded and performed relentlessly while pursuing a major-label record deal. In 1992 they decided to record and promote their own album, titled it Pop This. A couple of years later, they released a second independent project, Too High, and in 1996 the band moved to the East Bay Area and released their third independent album, Artificial Hip.

With great perseverance The Uninvited placed the record in the hands of program directors across the county. As luck would have it, "Too High For The Supermarket" became the most requested song on Monterey Bay''s own KMBY.

The band soon signed a deal with Igloo Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic. But the self-titled major label debut was lost in the crowded Atlantic Records summer releases of 1998, which included the first effort from Kid Rock. The Uninvited kept to the road, and developed strong sales and airplay. Nevertheless Atlantic dropped the band.

Even though his band is once again 100 percent "indie," JT Taylor says he''d sell out in a heartbeat. "If you paid me upfront, I''d be your little whore without a doubt," he says. "The second you take money to play even at the smallest club, you''ve sold out." Nevertheless, he says, the band is definitely not pursuing any major labels. "We don''t want to spend the time getting a major label deal for what you get as a final payoff."

Last year, Bill Cory, the band''s original bass player, decided to take a permanent sabbatical after the birth of his son. Longtime drummer Bruce Logan played his last Uninvited show this past New Year''s Eve. Replacing them are Phoenix resident Frederick "Ladd" Story III on bass and former Cowboy Mouth sideman Eddie Ecker of New Orleans on drums. Together The (new) Uninvited have embarked on their fifth independent album. As they were getting ready to record, they realized that it would be to their advantage to take the money budgeted for recording and use it to build their own studio instead. The facility is completed and the band is anticipating a September release date.

Even though The Uninvited remain unsigned, they still have the powerful Kevin Daily at Monterey Peninsula Artists as a booking agent helping them to be seen in all the right places. The band is proud of their ability to take their music "directly to the people." All four independent releases are available for sale on the band''s Web site, www.uninvited.com.

The Uninvited play Saturday, July 28 at Sly McFly''s, 700 A Cannery Row, Monterey. Tickets are $10 at the door. 649-8050.