Velvety smooth name aside, the Satin Peaches have had a rough road in a career filled with fits and starts. The alternative-rock quartet from Commerce Township plays a show on Saturday at Ann Arbor's Blind Pig supporting its first domestic release, a six-song CD titled "Morning Maid."

Led by vocalist and guitarist George Morris, the Satin Peaches signed a deal with Island Records three years ago, which at the time sounded like a fabulous career move. Island was founded by the visionary music lover Chris Blackwell some 50 years ago, and has been the home of both mainstream and cult-appeal artists, including everyone from Bob Marley to Traffic to John Martyn to U2. But being signed to a major label has never been an automatic ticket to super-stardom, and with the rapidly changing landscape of the music industry, has increasingly been a ticket to frustration and career inertia.

"After singing to Island we met up with producer Owen Morris, who did the early Oasis records and the early Verve stuff," says the unrelated George Morris. "We did recording in New York and finished the album in Los Angeles about two years ago, and then everybody at the label we had contact with got fired." Even after repeated promises, Island never released anything by the Satin Peaches domestically and the band was left adrift.

After a long period of wrangling, the group finally negotiated its way out of the deal with Island and gained the rights to release "Morning Maid" independently earlier this year. Well worth the wait, the recording overflows with walls of guitars provided by Morris and Ryan Wiese, and everything is anchored down by the bracing rhythm section of bassist Aaron Nelson and drummer Jeremy Smith. Reminiscent of past and present English bands such as the Psychedelic Furs ("Emma") and Franz Ferdinand ("Still Sour"), the Satin Peaches have a great feel for melodic, power-pop hooks, and the only real complaint is that the stunningly well-produced CD only clocks in at a meager twenty-three minutes.

The quartet's short-lived major label status at least led to recording sessions at some swanky places. "We recorded in upstate New York at Allaire Studio, a big mansion in the Catskill Mountains," says Morris. "We went and lived there and recorded in a giant room with a really loud P.A." Then it was on to the legendary Sunset Sound studio in Hollywood for more overdubs, the place where classic albums by the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys and tons of others were laid down. "That was great and kind of surreal, seeing all the gold records on the wall," says Morris.

"The Beatles made me want to start writing songs," Morris responds when asked about his influences. "Then the Velvet Undergound's first album changed how I wrote; it made me think about how I saw writing songs." Radiohead, Modest Mouse and Broken Social Scene are also mentioned as contemporary bands who've had an impact on the Satin Peaches, with the young band anxious to return to the Blind Pig this Saturday, one of its favorite places to play.

"We've been all over, and recently did a west coast tour with the Parlor Mob (the New Jersey based hard-rock band) that put 8,000 miles on my truck," Morris says. "But we've narrowed down the places we like to play the most to the Blind Pig, the Lager House and Magic Stick in Detroit and Mac's in East Lansing. We've had a residency at the Blind Pig, did our record release party there, and think it has just a really good atmosphere."

The Satin Peaches may have had their major label deal gone sour, but at least one good thing came out of it besides "Morning Maid." Says Morris, "Once one label gets interested in you, a lot of other labels take you out for dinner."

The Satin Peaches perform with special guests the Nice Device and the Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the Blind Pig, 208 N. First Street. Cover: $5; under 21, $8. 18+. Doors open at 9 p.m. Martin Bandyke is an entertainment columnist for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at martin@annarbors107one.com.