Josh Schwartz’s ROCKVILLE, CA Premieres Today on TheWB.com

ROCKVILLE, CA premieres today at 9am est on www.TheWB.com.  The new web series, from creator Josh Schwartz, centers around the music club, Rockville – think The O.C.’s Baitshop without the hot lesbian bartender – and those who frequent the hipster joint.

Each self-contained episode features a new band on the verge, hand picked by executive producer Alexandrea Patsavas.  Whether you know it or not, Patsavas has been influencing our ears for quite some time now as music supervisor on shows such as THE OC, GREY’S ANATOMY, PRIVATE PRACTICE, GOSSIP GIRL, CHUCK, MAD MEN and more. Her influence, which has always been in the background of a scene, is at the forefront of this series. If anything, I’d say it’s the characters that play second to the music, at least in the first six episodes.

ROCKVILLE, CA is offered in digestible four to six minute mini-bites. Perfect for our Twitter obsessed minds.  Given the length of the installments there isn’t a lot of room for deep character development which is good because I’m not sure all of the actors are up for more than they’ve been given. Some of the actors seem to be trying just a bit too hard and there’s a certain lack of subtly to their performances.  Ryan Hansen, who plays Chambers, is the biggest offender. It was borderline painful to see his overly broad portrayal of The Douche. It was especially tough as Hansen was one of the reasons I was most excited about this project when I first heard about it.  But maybe I’m juding too harshly.  The webisodic nature doesn’t really allow these actors to live with the characters for too long so maybe they just hadn’t found their groove yet. They have 20 episodes to work it out, so I guess we’ll see soon enough.

So who just are these cool cats who hang out at a club in the middle of the day? In the first six episodes we meet…

Deb (Alexandra Chando, “As the Word Turns”) – a label rep for Wall to Wall Records.  She’s supposed to be at Rockville to sign the next big band in music, but she’s a little distracted by Syd, a monosyllabic bassist for the band Austrailian. Deb is Rockville’s Clark Kent. They might put a paid of trendy glasses on her but we can still tell she’s a super hottie. But will Syd ever notice her?

Hunter (Andrew West, “Privileged”) is the resident music geek.  No seriously, they tell us that in the pilot. He’s the Seth Cohen/Chuck Bartowski of this series.  The adorakable guy who despite outward appearance is most definitely the coolest guy around.  His interests seem to be music and the ladies. He has his eye on Callie, the hot blonde bartender, but I think he’ll eventually find Deb is a bit more his speed. Given what we know of Schwartz’s past leading men, Hunter will most definitely come out on top…and he’ll get the girl.

Chambers (Ryan Hansen, “Veronica Mars”) seems to have a business relationship with Rockville’s owner, Shaun, which is good because it seems to be the only way he can get his band Pretty Committee to be heard.

Callie (Jelly Howie) is the gorgeous and sweet new bartender. Syd (Matt Cohen, “Supernatural”) the dumb but sexy bassist. Shawn (Bonnie Burroughs), the mom of the group and owner of the club. And Hugh (Mighty Rasta, “Terry Tate”), the book loving bouncer.

These characters will be joined by others as the series progresses.  Look for upcoming appearances by Michael Cassidy (“The OC”, “Privileged”), Natalie Morales (“The Middleman”) and more.

There’s some notable names, both known and maybe not so well known, playing at Rockville this season. The bands making appearances in the series include Kaiser Chiefs, Travis, Phantom Planet, Lykke Li, The Duke Spirit, Eagles of Death Metal, Earlimart, Frightened Rabbit, The Kooks, The Little Ones, Nico Stai, Passion Pit, Anya Marina, Bishop Allen, Cass McCombs, Lights, Oppenheimer and The Republic Tigers.

I’m the first to admit that I am so not cool when it comes to discovering new music.  I never have been.  But I will say that the soundtrack that came along with the Rockville press materials has been playing on my iPod ever since I received it a few weeks ago. And yes, I feel that much cooler knowing that I can recognize a song by Nico Stai or The Kooks. Don’t think I won’t be dropping those names with my much cooler, musically inclined friends.

ROCKVILLE, CA works in the web series format.  It’s not layered enough to live as a traditional network series but it’s not supposed to be. Given that it’s a small time committment, I think people should give the series a shot if for no other reason than you can up your hipster music cred.

Check out the first four episodes of ROCKVILLE, CA starting at 9am TODAY on www.TheWB.com. Two new episodes will be available every Tuesday through May 12th.  You can also stream or download exclusive live music tracks from the show, watch videos, and enjoy exclusive band interviews and other “Rockville CA” content at www.RockvilleCA.com.

Go check it out NOW and come back here and let me know what you think.  Did you like it? Will you be tuning in again?

P.S. I know Rockville is a fictional club, but if in your travels you come across a rock club in which you can hold a normal conversation without screaming can you please let me know?  I want to go to there.