You probably know John (Juan) Maclean from the seminal indie-electro band, led by his pal James Murphy, Six Finger Satellite. His latest band, (somewhat) bearing his own name, is on Murphy's DFA label, and sonically falls nicely within the label's now-patented dance-jam genre, albeit with a little less punk (but plenty of cowbells). The Juan Maclean relies on building rhythmic tension through repetition, incorporating heavy synths, big bass sounds, and pulsating beats (both machine- and man-made).

Seeing this band live is much more of a rockin' experience than listening to them on disc. On stage they're more spazzy like LCD Soundsystem, while on tape they're a little more mechanical, like Kraftwerk. These guys play long songs and could very well be the jam band for people who hate jam bands.

The Juan Maclean play Supreme Trading, Saturday, January 14th.