On Monday morning, after one of Melbourne’s biggest clubbing weekends of the year, Room680 was abuzz with the French-electro sounds of Surkin. It may have been raining outside, but in the boiler room upstairs the ‘Glenferrie Revolution’ (as it was referred to in street press this week) was taking place. Je Veux Te Voir or I Want to See You? Make up your own mind, but I think things do sound better French.

Melbourne’s Harris Robotis had the floor moving early with his dirty disco, but it was Ajax that lifted the tempo. In a massive set, Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. was dropped early to a rapturous crowd. The Ed Banger was brought with a brief sample of Waters of Nazareth, mashed up with the New Young Pony Club track Ice Creams. Indie-electronic, electro-clash, new-wave, nue-rave, neo-rave. The sub-genres are endless, but the emerging European sound was definitely present throughout the night. Cheesy electro was a notable absence. The minimal electro sounds of Booka Shade vs MANDY’s Body Language sat comfortably against the fragmented beats of Switch/Solid Groove’s A Bit Patchy and This Is Sick. Through these progressions, Ajax blended his signature deep and heavy hip-hop bass lines.

In true party mode, Ajax’s set naturally meshed into a versus set with Headman. With Surkin enticing the crowd from the side of stage, Ajax sculling vodka between tweaks of the mixers and Headman behind the decks, the trio looked like they were throwing a house party. It wasn’t until 3am that Headman took full control, and even then Ajax and Surkin weren’t far away. A definite highlight was when Headman dropped his latest 12” On and On. The knowledgeable crowd picked it early, audible impressed from the first reverberated bass line. Surkin called for the dance floor to jump and with the discipline of a loyal dog, they did. Soon everybody knew the words, “I was walking down the radio…”

An indie-rock laced rework of Tiga’s You Gonna Want Me had the crowd ready for the main man, and the baby-faced Surkin segued in. His set was definitely more indie-rock based than the old-school glam hip-hop style he is often known for. Surkin’s well known track Radio Fireworks was mixed well in a set that also used his credited remixed ( Para-One Midnight Swim, a stand out) with more familiar local tracks such as Midnight Juggernauts’ euphoric Shadows.

A quick trip to the front room and it was no surprise to see the place desolate, with just a few braving the now clichéd guitar riffs of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. With this I was reminded where the party was at. Back in the main room, Surkin too was using familiar 90s guitar riffs, but this time it was fused with his varied influences to create something truly original.