Who needs a drum machine — when you can get William Goldsmith?

IQU started out in Olympia seven years ago, drifted north and became a top-shelf Seattle electro-rock band. Now it has become truly something extraordinary with the addition of Goldsmith, who previously played with Sunny Day Real Estate and (briefly) the Foo Fighters.

The addition may be temporary, as Goldsmith is busy with other projects, namely SDRE-spinoff the Fire Theft and 5ivestyle; while it lasts, this might be the best show in town.

Last week at the Showbox, Goldsmith sat behind his drum kit stage right, with Kento "K.O." Oiwa playing guitar (and, occasionally, theremin) center stage, and Michiko Swiggs playing keyboards to his left. Since its inception, IQU — pronounced ee-koo — has been a duo, often experimental, more lately leaning toward Japanese pop as the two Japanese Americans explored their roots.

Adding Goldsmith is like throwing a stick of dynamite into a fireworks warehouse.

Watching him play, all you see is a whirl of arms, his face fairly expressionless. He's as cool and automatic (seemingly flawless) as a robo-drummer; then again, he has that explosive creativity that is all too human.

With Goldsmith, IQU has become a shape-shifter, the musical equivalent of those horror movie villains. Some of their songs incorporate recorded beats, and the three shift gears three or four times per song, back and forth between electro-grooves and rock-jams.

It's a wild, occasionally spine-tingling mixture of technical gadgetry and sheer instrumental virtuosity.

On "Aluet" (from the first IQU album), Goldsmith on every eighth beat would crash down on the cymbals, an exhilarating accent. Other times, he simply adds rock muscle to IQU's body of work, in turn leading Oiwa to unleash his guitar-warrior side — his talents as a guitarist are deep and varied, but he usually chooses to play in a restrained, laid-back fashion.

The new project came about when Oiwa became one of Goldsmith's housemates in Kirkland. The two have been friends for more than a decade, back when Goldsmith was starting out Sunny Day Real Estate.

Oiwa stresses the IQU "is not just music — it's about relationships. Michiko and I have been such good friends for so long, the same with William. We all feel like we are siblings — he just blended in even though our original music styles are so different."

Together, it's a dynamic combination, this new, intensely ramped-up IQU. "It's a whole new boundary, huh?" says Oiwa, with an almost boyish gleefulness. "Playing [with Goldsmith] on the stage I get goose bumps ... His drumming is so explosive — he's the John Bonham of our generation."

IQU-plus-Goldsmith headlines a spectacular "Aquarian Birthday Bash" put on by publicist Frank Nieto at the Crocodile on Saturday (10 p.m., $5 for Aquarians, $7 for non-Aquarians). Nieto is the former booker of the Crocodile and Chop Suey, and he has lined up a show that makes him seem like the Ed Sullivan of Seattle indie rock. The lineup includes: 5ivestyle, the Billy Dolan band that Goldsmith has joined; the Lights, an experimental-leaning trio somewhere in that gray area between garage and punk; Ape Shape, a Portland reggae-punk band; and the Slo Asions, a new Turn-ons side project.

The latter act has Turn-ons guitarist Erik Blood — also a talented producer and DJ — and bass player Corey Gutch, with sample-master DJ Tactile. They do some wonderful psychedelic re-washes of the likes of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" and Elton John's "Rocket Man."

Nieto promises "a lot of dancing, which is rare at the Crocodile."

• Expect some very big things from the former Bohemian Café, the longtime R&B/hip-hop — and, before that, reggae — spot in Pioneer Square that is now closed. As reported in the Times earlier this week, the swank Formosa Card Room has opened at 111 Yesler Way; owner Anthony Frazier, who has had the Bohemian space for 11 years, plans a grand opening in late February for "three clubs under one roof."

• Also in Pioneer Square, the kinetic band SMP plays the Fenix at 10 tonight ($12). This is the Jason Bazinet-led hyperactive band that cranks up industrial-punk over furious raps. Goth-rockers Black Atmosphere and post-punkers the Sins are also on the bill.

• Visqueen unveils its new lineup — Kim Warnick has retired, Ronnie Barrett of the Muffs replaces her on bass — 9 p.m. Wednesday at Neumo's ($8, all ages).

Tom Scanlon: tscanlon@seattletimes.com