Four members of the band Venice are part of a famous musical family.

Here's a hint: they all share the last name Lennon.

Wrong.

Brothers Michael and Mark Lennon, and their cousins Kipp and Pat Lennon, are no relation to the deceased former Beatle.  They do come from the Irish-rooted clan that brought pop music the Lennon Sisters.  That still-active '40s-style female vocal quartet came to fame in the '60s, singing with hep cats such as Andy Williams and Lawrence Welk.

Like their much-older sisters, Kipp and Pat use their muse to trip audiences back to another musical era.

Venice revisits the country-folk sound that echoed through Laurel Canyon and down the boardwalk of its namesake beachfront hometown 25 years ago, back when bands such as the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac were hungry for success, not just take-out.

The band's 1997 album "Born and Raised" - released through tiny Santa Monica indie label Vanguard - weaves 16 strong melodies with seamless harmonies into an embroidery highly evocative of that peaceful, easy feeling.

"I like to think of us as a little more ethnic or groove-oriented than the Eagles, but the comparison doesn't bother us at all," says Michael Lennon.  The guitarist - who received his first instrument from a member of the Lawrence Welk band - is phoning from Colorado.  Venice has just played the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival on the club tour that swings it to McCabe's in Santa Monica this weekend.

"We don't feel we sound just like the Eagles," Lennon continues, "but I think it's a natural comparison, because we're a harmony, folk-rock type band."

These days they call Venice's type of music adult contemporary. Reserved mostly for once-relevant acts whose new music still draws sizeable nostalgic interest, this radio format is nearly impossible for undiscovered bands to crack.  Thus Venice's prospects of a major-label deal are seriously stunted.

"But we don't want a major-label deal," Lennon says.  "I'm happier trying to do well on a small label like Vanguard than trying to get a big deal and hoping that someone's not going to drop me the next day.  Ani DiFranco did it all herself."

Venice already had a major-label deal in 1990, but it crumbled when their debut album was overproduced by Danny Kortchmar and under-promoted by then-metal-overloaded Atlantic Records.

"We never really had anywhere near the push we needed," Lennon says.  "They never put us on the road.  I'm sure there's a million reasons why.  I'm not blaming them.  Maybe the record wasn't right either."

Having weathered that storm, the sunny-sounding group was given a second chance two years ago, after Vanguard was impressed to see Venice sell 4,000 copies of "Garage Demos, Pts. 1 and 2." The band self-released these two CDs of rawly recorded concert favorites, then persuaded 10 local Tower Records outlets to stock them.

"Born and Raised," recorded at a family vacation home, was released last year with high hopes.  It did not give DiFranco much competition, however.  The Lennons - along with bassist Alexis Sklarevski and drummer Dann Gillen - still gain most of their new fans by performing in small clubs across America.  In concert, Venice, which has added 80,000 miles to its touring van in 18 months, radiates an intimacy admittedly not yet captured in the recording studio.

"Our problem has been the reverse of most," Lennon says.  "Most bands make a great album and have trouble living up to it live.  We have trouble getting the power of our live show onto an album."

Venice now is working to rectify that problem for its next record.  Lennon describes the as-yet-untitled work as "punchier" and "more in the vein of Sheryl Crow" than "Born and Raised."

Michael, a 1977 graduate of St. Bernard high school in Westchester, and Kipp formed Venice 17 years ago as a cover band.  Before introducing their own songs and brothers to the equasion, they performed Doobie Brothers and Eagles tunes for their classmates at parties.

A name for the young outfit came easily.  The Lennon family has called Venice home since 1917, when newspaper reporter Burt Lennon and his wife, former dancer Betty Heinrch, resettled from the Midwest.  (The members of Venice number among their 56 grandchildren.)

"We're third generation here," Lennon says.  "We've seen the city go through many changes, and lately they've been good.  They've cleaned up Venice Boulevard, and they're trying to keep the landmark buildings around.  It's nice to see neat murals on the sides of buildings as opposed to graffiti.  And the Abbot Kinney Street Fair (at which the band will appear Sept. 13) is creating a new awareness for the city."

Lennon says he's optimistic awareness will also shine on Venice the band.  In the meantime, he, Mark and Kipp perform in a cover band to pay the rent.  The Pine Mountain Logs performs at Harry O's in Manhattan Beach about once a month, usually Sunday nights.

"It's a lot of fun, but that's just for the money," Lennon says.  "What we really hope to do is put out this next record and have a song that'll break us through.  And we think we'll be able to sustain that through our experience with performing live."