What started as a whim will soon turn into a multipronged business venture that kicks off with a scotch named Fireplace and possibly a full-length snippet album.

That's the deadpanned word from the Saturday Knights, the witty, Seattle-based hip-hop group that started when DJ Suspence booked a gig for them as an opening act for RJD2 in 2005, literally daring his pals Barfly and Tilson to step up and follow through on their long-running joke to make some music together.

"We'd been doing doo-wop hooks to crack each other up," Barfly said. "So he told the promoter that he had this group, but there was no group. We had two weeks, so we debuted live, literally."

That spontaneity has turned into a deal with Seattle label Light in the Attic Records, a self-titled EP that came out in the spring, and a full-length album on the way later this year. The group--Suspence on the beats, Tilson and Barfly on the rhymes, and guitarist B-Web on the power chords--has been part of a growing hip-hop resurgence in Seattle, along with Common Market and the Blue Scholars. Sir Mix-a-Lot would be proud.

The Saturday Knights' first single, "45," which has garnered the group plenty of buzz in the Pacific Northwest, features Barfly and Tilson trading rhymes over a staccato drum beat. The EP also includes "Motorin," which mixes the revved-up guitar licks of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" with plenty of one-liners.

Audio: Listen to The Saturday Knights' "45."

Video: Watch watch a video interview with the band at the Sasquatch Festival last month.

Similar artists: Beastie Boys, Pharcyde