Oddly, the front man of Auktyon, the seven-piece Russian rock band that played World Cafe Live on Friday, is not its lead singer. From his entrance midway through the first song, "Girls Sing," Oleg Garkusha made it clear that he'd be the visual focus for the night.

The band was otherwise ordinary in appearance. But Garkusha, taller than the rest, with tousled blond hair, shiny black suit and white gloves, seemed a cross between Michael Jackson and Gary Busey. He was there to sing backup, play small hand percussion, and, most of all, to dance, in a childlike, hyperactive motion that came to be entrancing.

While Garkusha stuck out like a sore thumb, guitarist and lead vocalist Leonid Fedorov riffed away on his Fender Jaguar and sang his intriguing melodies in a deep Russian drawl. Keyboardist Dmitry Ozersky, electric bassist Viktor Bondarik, drummer Boris Shaveinikov, and two horns completed the picture.

Auktyon (Auction) has made records and built a global following since the final years of the Soviet Union. Theirs is a loud, magnetic mash-up of vintage keyboard and guitar sounds, psychedelic grooves, nods to '80s pop, and undercurrents of contemporary ethnic fusion, from Slavic folk to ska.

There's a rhythmic involvement and structural openness to their work, making it attractive to the A-team of downtown New York improvisers who appear as guests on Girls Sing, Auktyon's latest CD: guitarist Marc Ribot, organist John Medeski, alto saxophonist and woodwinds player Ned Rothenberg, trumpeter Frank London, and Russian bassist Vladimir Volkov.

None was in Philly on Friday, although saxophonist/bass clarinetist Nikolay Rubanov and tuba player Mikhail Kolovsky brought jazz and other elements to the mix, playing improvised solos, snaky background lines and caustic interludes.

It didn't take long for the dance floor to fill, and Auktyon managed to bump along in 7/4 and 5/8 time without scaring people away. Songcraft, however, was the main sell. The manic phrases of "Padal" were impossibly crowded and still naturally flowing. "Tam-dam," a mournful ballad, had a melody with ascending and descending variants, each hard to forget.

By: David R. Adler