6FS' prog-rock will invade the 'Sco

Six Finger Satellite (6FS) and TransAm bring Devo-inspired and truly prog-rock music to the 'Sco Wednesday at 10 p.m.

Ten years in the making, 6FS celebrates its fifth album with Sub Pop. Paranormalized combines the essential moog, synth and drum machines with more contemporary drums, bass and vocals. Hailing from Rhode Island, the suit-wearing band translates its dark humor and aggression into an articulate, edgy and utterly complex sound.

Transcending early phases of grunge and exclusively electronic music, 6FS slams its multi-layered expression into listeners' ears. Lead vocalist J. Ryan says the music is "not about anger. It's about aggression." Luckily, the band intimates no angst, despite what such song titles as "Do the Suicide" and "The Great Depression" suggest.

Ryan uses his voice as just another instrument, penning words after notes. Sometimes screaming, sometimes caterwauling, this admirer of Genghis Khan holds nothing back in voice or moog. John MacLean, lending his fierce instensity to a band with plenty to spare, covers most of the high-wattage equipment, such as the sequential circuits, the guitar synth and the moog rogue.

Richard Pelletier exquisitely handles the drums, manually and mechanically. Anti-electricty James Apt fits in snuggly with his thrumming bass and clarinet.

An alternative to typical plaid-clad Sub Pop sound like the Fastbacks and Mudhoney, 6FS trods the nearly forgotten road of strapped-on synth Devo but takes numerous detours. Full-ranging and always entertaining, 6FS promises a night of noise, distortion and unabashed gut-wrenching vertigo.

Hailing from suburban Maryland, TransAm steps on the gas and makes sparks fly. This purely instrumental, three-member band worships at the altar of Casio and shows no shame.

With origins in Walt Whitman High School, the group has drawn from Zeppelin, Herbie Hancock, bagpipe music and more to culminate in a tribute to antiquated technology with a unique multifarious sound. After releasing its debut, self-titled album, TransAm comes to Oberlin, alma mater of keyboardist and guitarist Phil Manley.

Once a WOBC deejay, Manley now plays songs of his own with bassist Nate Means and drummer Sebastian Thompson. Comparable to producer John McEntire's band Tortoise, the band performs its exacting post-rock with lots of energy a little too much familiarity.

Teetering on the brink of success, TransAm's reputable label Thrill Jockey can only help. Though somewhat calculated, the music reincarnates sounds that might otherwise be lost. "Ballbados" comes off as intense indie-rock, while "Orlando" sounds like it's off a TV jingle.

Six Finger Satellite and TransAm offer an expressive, electronic, enthralling show perfect for a midterm study break.