Every bar stool was taken in the Ritz, the side tables were full too. Sticky summer air swirled through the bordello glow of heady red lights. The band took up half the floor in the downstairs portion of the bar and a handful of dancers occupied the other half. They danced to original songs that had the spirit of the old hits.

It was a Monday night and the band was the The Second Hand. A new Island musician super-group, The Second Hand was formed by two Mikes — Mike Benjamin and Mike Parker. Both are familiar names and faces on the Vineyard music scene. Mike Benjamin is the frontman of the Mike Benjamin Band and the Grateful Dread as well as a solo artist. He’s been playing music for more than half of his life. Mike Parker was the vocalist for Dukes County Love Affair (DCLA) with guitarist John Stanwood, and drummer Jaime Greene. The new band started over the winter, after a chance encounter at the Ritz.

Mr. Parker remembered coming to the downtown Oak Bluffs bar one night and seeing Mr. Benjamin playing slide guitar.

“I’m a fan, you know,” Mr. Parker said. “So I reached out and said, hey if you ever want to jam some time...”

A few months later in March, the Mikes got together to play an impromptu opener for Crooked Coast, a popular Cape band that often comes over to the Island to play.

“There was kind of a little spark there,” said Mr. Benjamin.

After the show, Ben deForest, the managing partner of the new Ritz, offered them a weekly gig. But first they needed to form a band. Turned out, that was easy. They both knew Phil daRosa, a producer, promoter, bass player and champion of Island music.

Bassist: check.

Then Mr. Parker kept running into Tom Major in the Berkshires. The drummer founded the Vineyard band Entrain. “I think Tom was playing before he was born, and Tom lives, eats, breathes playing drums,” Mr. Benjamin said.

Drummer: check.

It’s unclear how Giulia Casalino joined the band, but she was there from the beginning.

“I don’t remember being asked to join this band,” said Ms. Casalino. “I don’t even know how that happened.”

“You were at a rehearsal,” said Mr. Benjamin.

“Oh yeah, it was like one of the first times we all got together, you were there,” said Mr. daRosa

“Well, I was asked to be there,” she said. “But I don’t remember being asked.”

It was never resolved exactly how it happened, but it didn’t need to be. Back-up vocalist: check. They were a band.

On a recent Monday night, the band gathered at the Ritz for a dinner of bacon-wrapped meatloaf, collard greens, cornbread and salad before performing. Except Tom Major. He was playing drums at Featherstone.

At first, The Second Hand was called Spring Chicken. As they put together more songs, the band identified less with the name, so they changed it.

“That was the spring phase of the band, and spring has sprung,” said Mr. Parker.

The Second Hand (think a clock) plays with an energy that starts in the floorboards and reverberates up through the spines. Mr. Parker is an energetic front man. He will climb up onto the bar to sing if the spirit moves him. Mike Benjamin plays guitar and sings, an unobtrusive yet captivating performer. Phil daRosa juts his head forward as his fingers constantly work at his bass. Tom Major vibrates along with his drum set, a wicked grin on his face. Giulia Casalino’s voice blends in and out, elevating the music.

This is Ms. Casalino’s first time as an actual member of a band, but she has a history of jumping in to join Island bands.

“I was always singing harmonies with all my favorite bands on the Vineyard from the audience, and I was like, why am I in the audience, I should be singing with them,” she said.

The Second Hand’s music is an amalgamation of every band they’ve ever listened to, preoccupied with the passage of time, but not weighed down by it. It’s groovy blues hop or bluesy groove hop, as Mr. daRosa put it.

“It’s all upbeat,” Mr. Benjamin said.

“Feel good,” added Ms. Casalino.

“I think it’s safe to say that it’s the whale’s tail,” said Mr. daRosa.

The Second Hand is a change for Mr. Parker.

“I’ve played in a lot of louder, crazier, like jumping around bands...it’s just not as high-octane as I’m used to, for me it’s been really refreshing and new,” he said. “I really enjoy the concepts of Mike’s songs.”

Mr. Benjamin writes about the troubling things in life: money, love, time passing, people who don’t text back. Mr. Parker takes the lyrics and melody that Mr. Benjamin creates and works in his raps.

“I’m verbal percussion, I try to fill in the vibe,” he said.

The Second Hand has also reinvigorated Mr. Parker. He points to one of their songs, Ghost of Mendocino, in particular. It came about after he’d attended a friend’s wedding in Mendocino, Calif.

“I came back and I wrote all these crazy words, and it turned into a song through this band,” he said. “That kind of lit the fire for me to keep writing and keep going down the original route.” For a band that wants people to dance, originals are a risky move; crowds can be so easily engaged through cover tunes.

“It can be difficult at times to harness a crowd with your songs and your lyrics, but if it does work, it feels good,” Mr. Parker said.

They embrace improvisation and their songs morph with each performance.

“We rehearse these songs, we play these songs multiple times, but with the improvisation they become something different each week, especially with the freestyling,” said Ms. Casalino.

Even as the Vineyard music scene laments the closure of many venues, The Second Hand is optimistic about music on the Island.

“The venue thing is an issue, but there’s a lot of really talented people,” said Mr. Benjamin.

It’s also a respite for musicians burned out from touring. Mr. Parker took a break from music after touring cross-country with DCLA. He spent two years in New Zealand before returning to the Island.

“Road life is hard, I was getting beat up,” he said. “Here, you wake up, have a coffee, work, swim and go play a gig. You show up and kill it.”

The Second Hand plays at sundown every Monday at the Ritz.