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The Aliens Invade Armed with Eclecticism

It was almost 1 A.M. when the lights finally went out on the Aliens, who descended upon Boston’s Great Scott last night (Sept. 20), a venue nestled in a city with a hard and fast bedtime — puritanical roots and, of course, no fun past midnight. But this time around, the dimmed lights were totally all for effect. Lead singer Gordon Anderson sneakily squirmed out of his guitar and straps on a blue and green mask, a miner’s headlight, and a pair of those sunglasses glasses that LeVar Burton used to wear on Star Trek — they’re Aliens, remember — as he grabbed the mic with two hands. Fully accessorized, he looked the Robot Man.

As keyboardist John Maclean’s synths kicked in, the lights flickered, and now everyone — on stage and off — danced like mad with the Robot Man to, well, a tune titled “Robot Man.” Anderson’s unwieldy, curly afro flung about to the retro-pop sonics. Naturally, the mildly-packed crowd is thrilled — the Aliens delivered six perfectly acceptable, could-be Beta Band songs (two former members, Maclean and drummer Robin Jones, were formerly in the outfit) but now, just minutes later, they’re a bouncy pop group. Zoloft, anyone?

A few songs later, Anderson ditched the Robot Man shtick, but the fan’s bubbly energy remained until the lights went out — for real, this time — on a collection of dance hungry youths too awake for their own good. The invasion of the Aliens truly was a wide-eyed spectacle.

We asked: Aliens frontman Gordon Anderson (a.k.a. Lone Pigeon) has recorded over 10,000 songs despite taking breaks from the band for “acute psychosis.” How many Gordon Anderson songs — or Aliens songs, for that matter — could you listen to without coming down with a case of the crazies?