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Just up the rickety stairwell of LES institution the Living Room hovers Googie's Lounge, a folksy venue posing as your spinster aunt's dusty attic. Googie's is more an appendage of the LR than a separate establishment, and it doesn't have its own bar (waitresses in flats and tights climb 32 stairs to better serve you), but it does make for an endearingly ramshackle performance space, complete with musty curtains, scattered holiday lighting, and an ivory-white baby grand. Coated in a soft sky blue, the Lounge's extremely casual air allows for the intimacy its music demands: A few low-lit tables place drinkers face-to-face with the brave song smiths. There couldn't be a better place to catch your girlfriend's best friend's college roommate cousins’ CD-release party. — Patrick Coffee