The name's not ironic: Northeast Party House are a party band and proud of it. In fact, the very premise of the Melbourne six-piece is to embody an insane two-week party that their high-school friend once hosted while his mum was out of town. “The whole idea was to pay tribute to that party and try to reflect that in our live show,” says singer Zac Hamilton-Reeves. It must have been one hell of a rampage, judging from both the band's nonstop energy and Hamilton-Reeves' assessment of the damage: “The house just got worse and worse.”

And yet, like some spin on Dorian Gray, Northeast Party House just get better and better. Following a self-titled EP that introduced memorable tracks like Embezzler and Empires, the boys have rivalled those with the spontaneous new single Pascal Cavalier. It perfects a certain strain of danceable, funk-addled guitar pop. Between its bubbly kinetics and Hamilton-Reeves' heartfelt croon, however, it's not likely to stem the perpetual tide of Bloc Party comparisons. “We get that a lot,” he admits. “It's probably because of my voice. I never really listened to Bloc Party; I was more into hip hop. The idea for the band was to have electronic elements but maintain that we were a live band.” They also have peers in young Aussie bands such as World's End Press, Millions and Gold Fields, but each are doing something a little bit different. Again, NPH stand out by being an unabashed party band, even if there's a tug of darkness to Pascal Cavalier.

As for the song's title character, that's a bit of mystery even for the band. “We all wrote it with a different idea in our heads as to who he actually was,” explains Hamilton-Reeves. “Essentially he's just a trickster, [but] his whole character is quite shady. He's meant to be able to do quite miraculous things. I said to a guy the other day that it's kind of a cross between a trickster, a wizard and a pimp.”

If that summation isn't as illuminating as it could be, that's the point. The character is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. The track itself, meanwhile, was produced by drummer Malcolm Besley, who also helmed the EP before he replaced exiting stickman Nick Lawrence. Keyboardist Sean Kenihan also has production experience, but not quite as much. Alongside bassist Josh Delaney and guitarists Jack Shoe and Mitch Ansell, Besley completes the band as a dual-purpose member. “He's such a valuable guy to have,” Hamilton-Reeves adds.

Prior to this band, the members cut their teeth with everything from funk and soul to heavy rock. Northeast Party House have been a quick success compared to those predecessors, having already hit Falls and Pyramid Rock festivals on top of supporting Kimbra. Now they're signed to the EMI-distributed label Stop Start (Ball Park Music, Hungry Kids Of Hungary) and are writing their debut album.

To make the wait for that album a bit easier, online you'll find remixes both commissioned and out of the blue. Naysayer & Gilsun did an official one for Embezzler, while the Geelong duo Yeh Nah did an edit for the same song and mashed up the band's early tune Dusk with Azealia Banks' 212. “I actually only just found that Azealia Banks one the other day,” muses Hamilton-Reeves, “when I was trying to find Pascal on Soundcloud. I was pretty excited about that.”

While there's a video clip for Empires, one for Pascal Cavalier is coming just a bit after the single itself. “We've got a habit of bringing out clips a little while after our single has actually come out,” he says with a laugh. But it's due soon and, although the album is still quite a ways off, this single tour will sneak in some advance tastes of it: “We'll chuck some new things in this time around.”