When Electric Six creates its party music, it’s a high-wire act without a net

• What: Electric Six, in concert. The concert is for adults 21 and older.

• When: 8 p.m. March 27.

• Where: Dante’s, 1 S.W. Third Ave., Portland.

• Cost: $12 through TicketsWest, 800-992-8499 or http://ticketswest.com.

• Information: http://danteslive.com.

Electric Six isn’t a band to obsess over its albums. The group has released one a year in the past six years, which is proof enough that these musicians don’t get bogged down in the creative process or the studio.

For that matter, Electric Six often doesn’t do much preparation before recording — not even song-writing. The band had just one song idea when it started recording “Zodiac,” its latest effort. Front man Dick Valentine takes it all in stride.

For the past three albums, the group had only one finished song when it started the recording process, he said. “It’s kind of exciting to — in a span of a month — go from having no idea what it’s going to sound like to, ‘Wow, this is going to be a good album.’”

With serious fans telling Valentine that “Zodiac” may be the group’s best record, the lack of advance preparation seems to be working just fine.

Those fans might be right. Already firmly established as a party band with lyrical wit, catchy melodies and a dance-worthy rock and roll, Electric Six has created one of its most consistently entertaining albums in “Zodiac.”

There’s driving rock on “After Hours” and “Countdown to the Countdown,” smart funk-rock on “Cluster(expletive),” and hook-filled dance rock on “Jam It in the Hole.” It’s all topped off by a righteously rocking cover of the Spinners’ “Rubberband Man.”

Second time’s the charm

The Electric Six began developing its varied style and considerable personality in Detroit in 1996 under the name The Wildbunch. The band initially didn’t get much going and broke up for a couple of years before releasing its debut CD, “Fire” under the new name Electric Six in 2003.

That album made a splash in the United Kingdom, spawning a pair of top five hits (“Gay Bar” and “Danger! High Voltage”) and going gold.

After the success of “Fire,” Electric Six went through some significant changes. The group lost its record deal with XL Recordings, and the lineup changed.

When the band finally resurfaced in 2005 with “Senor Smoke,” it was on a new label, Metropolis Records, and with a lineup in which Valentine (real name: Tyler Spencer) and drummer M (Cory Martin) were the only original members. The revamped lineup also included guitarist The Colonel (Zach Shipps), guitarist Johnny Na$hinal (John Nash), keyboardist Tait Nucleus? (Christopher Tait), bassist/guitarist John R. Dequindre (Chris Peters) and bassist Frank Lloyd Bonaventure (Mark Dundon).

Since then, it’s been pretty smooth sailing for Electric Six. There have been a couple of personnel changes. Smorgasbord (Keith Thompson) and Percussion World (Mike Alonso) are now the bassist and drummer. But the band has stayed on its schedule of releasing a studio album every year and doing a considerable amount of touring.

And as has become the band’s custom, Electric Six went into “Zodiac” with no real plan.

“Honestly, the only concept going into it was that (the song) ‘Table and Chairs’ was going to be on it,” Valentine said. “This album was very much cobbled together as we did it.”

Now Electric Six is back in touring mode. Other than freshening the band’s on-stage wardrobe, Valentine said, the band isn’t planning many big changes to its always-spirited live show.

“I don’t know that it’s going to be that much different, other than I’m getting rid of the capes and moving in a more fortune-teller direction,” he said. “And then also I’m thinking about when we perform the song ‘Cluster(expletive)’ live, maybe doing a Lord of the Dance (routine), maybe whip out some castanets and some costume changes just for that song. But other than that, we don’t have time nor the inclination to think very big.”