The Library is on Fire

An American indie rock band, The Library is on Fire was formed by singer/guitarist Steve Five in 2007. Five took the name from a poem by the French war poet René Char while working at the Strand Bookstore, after weekly meetings over coffee with the Television guitarist Tom Verlaine. The band headlined their first New York show at the Glasslands Gallery in 2008, with future Grammy nominees The Ting Tings opening. TLioF can be seen in the video series Masters From Their Day, produced by Benchmark Media. The band also recorded a cover of Peter Gabriel’s Digging in the Dirt, for Jagjaguwar/Brah Records.

After a decade of other projects, Five re-formed the band in 2023. One of that year’s singles, Hotel Jugoslavija, features the famed bassist Mike Watt (Minutemen). Accompanied by Vedran Mehinovic and Pete Sustarsic, Five plans on continuing to explore a hefty, explosively colorful sound.