The House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Highway, looked real nice Sunday night when the venue hosted a four-band show headlined by local heroes, The Patience.

Recently, the venue has been making noticeable improvements to its overall appearance, including a large number of neat-looking, multi-colored, sock-like ornaments hanging from the ceiling, paintings displayed on the wall and snazzier furniture. The new additions contribute to a more cosmopolitan atmosphere that makes you feel good about watching bands play there.

When you’re watching four bands, one after another, mood and atmosphere are definitely important. There wasn’t a unifying theme; however, guitars, keyboards and youth all played a pretty important role.

Headliners The Patience, a three-piece group comprised of teenage girls from the DeKalb/Sycamore area, offer up slightly twee but always tuneful pop songs that I assume are about making out with boys and dressing/acting like aliens. The set itself was shambled with a couple false starts and missed cues.

However, this was a minor issue as the girls seem to be having fun on stage and definitely take their craft seriously. The band peaked with inspired standout “My Love” which featured blurred harmonies between the two singers, robotic drumming and a super catchy keyboard riff played by Taylor Ochoa.

Like the other bands on the bill, their time was brief, but I can honestly say I dug them the most, and they get a little better every time I see them.

Opening act, Beast from the Sea, melodramatically kicked off the night with a brief set heavy on epic guitars and atmospherics.

Next was Eagle Scout, who definitely brought the energy with propulsive songs built upon urgent, melodic arpeggios and breakneck drumming. An extremely enthusiastic keyboardist created a nervous, screeching noise that coasted on top of the rest of the clamor. These guys all wore nice-fitting black jeans, which for me, was a plus.

Truman and His Trophy were next and feature keyboards and dual guitars. Their songs were dynamic, typically starting quiet with only voice and keyboards and ending loud and triumphantly. With an emphasis on hooky guitar riffs, herky-jerky rhythms and flannel, this group shows promise and were enough to captivate my attention.

It was a decent night for young bands at The House with each group showing a little enthusiasm and none really overstaying their welcome.

On top of it all, I bought a pickle for 25 cents, and it was delicious.