Fun, funky Chromeo, getting down

In the ever-changing universe of artfully detached synth-pop, two things remain clear. Hip audiences love duos - and they love French duos in particular. The sample-happy robot icons of Daft Punk and the swift-kicking tech-heads of Justice are the best examples of Gallic electronic dance ensembles that hipsters everywhere adore.

Then there's Chromeo, who sold out the Trocadero on Friday night. There are a few major differences in their sound, look and audience compared with the rest of the pack.

First, husky synthesizer manipulator Dave One and lean crooner Pee Thug are French Canadians from Montreal, who don't just noodle moodily with synths and sequencers - in concert, they plinked guitars and plucked basses on swingers such as "Needy Girl" and cut a mean percussive swath through cowbells and woodblocks during the chunky "Tenderoni."

Second, instead of being detached, the two are fun, funny and funky - playing a cheesy brand of electro-soul, borrowing as much from American 1980s acts such as Midnight Star, the Time and Zapp as they do from Philadelphia's melodic Hall & Oates. (It's no wonder Daryl Hall recorded songs with Chromeo for his Internet TV show.)

Chromeo's peppy "Bonafied Lovin' " was nothing if not massively memorable pop. That this song opened with a jokey riff from Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" (complete with the "I want my MTV" chorus) was simply a tease.

Which leads to the audience: Rather than the expected crowd of hipster gals in shags and boys in skinny jeans, the throng who came to hear Chromeo spin their vibrato-heavy pitch-control dials through the frenetic "Fancy Footwork" and the jittery "You're So Gangsta' " were college frat kids dancing dopily, with many wearing silly lit-up oversized glasses.

The intro said it all - as Chromeo came out to the distorted whirr of "Me & My Man" and lyrics such as "This is the new sound / We came to get down" the crowd shouted "Chro-mee-oh-we-ohh-oh" in the manner of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz.

It's hard to be artfully detached after that.