Halfway through the Dodos' 11-song set at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago Monday night, the band played their new song 'Troll Nacht' without any lights on. At first it seemed that maybe the set was over, but only a handful of songs had been performed. Lead singer Meric Long appeared onstage, gripping his guitar festooned with either colored lights or glow sticks attached to it, which eerily bobbed up and down as he moved. For the duration of the song, this was the only form of luminosity in the venue except for cell phones and exit signs. In German, 'nacht' means night, so the band ostensibly took the word literally.

Before the lights went out, New Zealanders the Ruby Suns opened the evening. Whereas Dodos were intense, the giddy Suns rambled on about how Americans were better communicators than people in Auckland. The Suns' tribal-electro-drum machine fusion produced a new genre: stoner-jungle-Pacific rock (maybe Animal Collective should take a cue). The trio played a couple of new songs from their forthcoming third record, 'Fight Softly,' due next year, and on the final two songs, Dodo Logan Kroeber joined the group on the steel drum.

Since last year's buzz-worthy 'Visiter' record, the Dodos have recorded a new album, 'Time to Die' and have acquired an insatiable fan base. On tour, Long and Kroeber added vibraphone player and additional drummer Keaton Snyder to the fold. The most striking thing about the Dodos live is they amp it up 100%. The acoustic folk moments on their records were still conveyed, but they let it rip with fuzzed-out guitars, yelps from Long and tremolo effects from the vibraphone.

The rest of their songs alternated between 'Visiter' and 'Die,' with opener 'Paint it Rust' and 'Jodi' off the former and 'Two Medicines,' 'Fables' and 'Acorn Factory' off the latter. Leading up to hit single 'Fools,' Long helped Snyder create magical sounds with the vibraphone then jarred the enthusiastic audience with an unexpected guitar assault. When Long tuned his guitar before playing encore song 'Walking,' an impatient audience member yelled, "Finish it!" "This is what we call suspense, man," Long shouted back as he delved into the countrified ballad and finished the set.