Datarock's brain trust is suffering from information overload these days.

"I'm feeling a little disorganized right now," admits Fredrik Saroea -- aka Rock Steady Freddy -- the co-founder, leader, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind the Norwegian dance-punk collective.

"It's a very busy time. I just came back from Japan. I had two full days travelling back and forth and less than two days there to do two gigs and a lot of press. So I'm very tired. But it was worth it -- last time we were there we played for 300 people, and this time we played for 10,000."

Apparently, the Japanese aren't the only ones getting with the program.

Saroea's nine-year-old outfit are finally breaking out of the underground on the strength of their bold look, full-on live show and -- most crucially -- their sophomore album Red, an ambitious and infectious high-concept work that fuses contemporary electro-rock songcraft with classic instruments and unabashed nostalgia for the new wave sounds of the late '70s and early '80s.

"Basically, the album is inspired by the period of time between 1976, which is the year I was born, and 1983, when MIDI (music software) arrived and messed up everything," laughs the 33-year-old musician from his seaside home in Bergen, Norway.

"It was a very complex period of time. You had this tremendous creative and cultural explosion. There's something about those late '70s and early '80s bands -- Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd., The Clash, Devo -- that I think is timeless. It will be exciting forever. So we wanted to look back and draw on that."

To that end, Saroea not only decreed that only instruments made before 1983 would be used to make the album, he also penned songs like Back in the Seventies, the disco love song Molly (as in Ringwald) and True Stories, whose lyrics are made up entirely of Talking Heads song titles. And just to ice the cake, he enlisted Gerald Casale of Devo -- whose yellow bodysuits inspired Datarock's lookalike red tracksuits -- as a creative consultant on the album.

Unlike many artists, Saroea isn't ashamed to admit he wears his influences on that tracksuited sleeve.

"When we first started this band, we were more fans than musicians. We didn't take it too seriously. It was all about paying tribute to our favourite artists, and Devo and Talking Heads were our main inspirations. Datarock has always been very honest about that. Now, we have worked with Devo. We never imagined we would be able to take it that far."

But Red is just the beginning, he says. The album is really only the soundtrack for the live show, which brings four of the collective's 50 associated members across Canada for the first time this month. They are part of the Virgin Music Festival at the Molson Amphitheatre Sunday.

And while Datarock are definitely dance-friendly, Saroea stresses they're really a punk band at heart.

"It's not an electronic duo, which is what a lot of people expect it to be. It's a rock show. It's not as if we have a lot of stuff on the big stage. We just put the costumes on, I plug my guitar directly into whatever amplifier I have -- I don't have a pedal board or anything -- and we pull off a punk show wherever we go.

"Of course, even though it's a rock show, you'd have to be deaf not to end up dancing."

And yes, you can buy red tracksuits at the merch table.

"The truth is, the whole album is just a way to sell red tracksuits," laughs Saroea. "After all, nobody buys records anymore."

The world's most dangerous band?

David Byrne might want to watch his back.

The singer-songwriter's music is celebrated in Norwegian dance-punk outfit Datarock's song True Stories, whose lyrics consist solely of Talking Heads song titles. Trouble is, being honoured by Datarock isn't exactly good for your health these days.

The video for Give It Up, the first single from the band's sophomore CD Red, was a tribute to Michael Jackson -- who passed away shortly after it was released.

Another tune on the album is a love song to actress Molly Ringwald, best known for her work with director John Hughes -- who also recently died.

Thankfully, Datarock head honcho Fredrik Saroea says their next single, The Pretender, isn't about anyone specific.

"It's inspired by a large section of mankind," he says. "It's about false identities. So anybody who has a false identity, be afraid!"

And if Chrissie Hynde happens to be reading this, she might want to be on her toes.