Bands Lend a Human Beat to the Drum Machine

If there ever was a reason to fight the drum-machine wars back in the ‘80s, the offbeat delights of technoboffin-popsters I Am the World Trade Center and house-music rockers VHS or Beta make it hard to remember what it might have been.

In different ways, both groups drew directly from that oft-maligned era during their sets at Spaceland on Sunday, melding disco, new wave and funk into retro-futuristic pop that was campy, danceable and surprisingly human.

Headliner VHS or Beta also showed an affinity for such modern electronica acts as Daft Punk during a 45-minute set drawn largely from the Louisville quintet’s self-released debut album, “Le Funk.”

Playing mostly instrumental house music on traditional rock gear rather than using sequencers and machines, they were totally serious and completely funky.

Before I Am the World Trade Center started its 35-minute set, singer Amy Dykes quickly explained that she and partner Dan Geller, who chose their group’s title prior to the events of last Sept. 11, had decided not to change the name, in order to honor the city where they got started.

Coming more from a new-wave place, the pair (now based in Athens, Ga.) employed keyboards, a digital theremin, tambourines and both normal and processed vocals in a delightfully energetic performance that was a bit like ultra-amped-up karaoke.

That effect was underscored when the pair offered pulsating renditions of Blondie’s “Call Me” and Berlin’s “Metro.”

But some of the songs from the band’s second album, “The Tight Connection” (released by indie-pop label Kindercore, which Geller co-founded), were unexpectedly affecting with their musings on the difficulties and thrills of living in the big city.