So we now know that the buzz surrounding Superorganism is true.

We know this because at a rocking The Old Market on Friday night the octet defied anyone not to be swept up in their deliciously joyous and bonkers dance grooves, their scattergun magpie theft of internet themes and retro, chintzy harmonies.

These are the heirs to the boy/girl band chaotic cacophony crown currently worn by one of Brighton's finest, The Go! Team. But just like the latter, underpinning Superorganism's appeal is a fine ear for a decent tune and the ability to hammer you into submission with it.

Formed over the web when young Japanese lead singer Orono Noguchi, only 17 and here looking like she's still way past her bedtime, began Skype conversing with an English indie band over shared musical preferences and internet memes. The addition of three backing singers/dancers (two girls and one boy) transformed the workaday indie chrysalis into the Superorganism butterfly. Just like the real thing, superorganism that is, they even live together now and collaborate to remarkable effect.

Songs like Everyone Wants to be Famous and Something for Your M.I.N.D. have The Old Market audience waving their arms in the air and stomping their feet, swept up in the joyousness of it all. The sentiments might often be predictably gnomic in this internet age but there’s nothing simplistic about Superorganism’s electronic indie dance music. What we heard on Friday night was the sound of something quite delicious gate crashing the party.

And that’s what puts the great into The Great Escape. When we go to other festivals we usually follow our already formed prejudices, to listen to what we like, and thus have our good taste confirmed to us. TGE showcasing of tomorrow’s big names forces us out of our comfort zones and into the unknown.

So on the Friday in question a trip to start the day at Horatios on the pier (just because it seemed like a good place to begin) had us stumbling across Halo Maud, a singer whose quirky French melodies are backed with a harder core of driving guitar/synth riffs to often mesmerising effect. One to look out for when her debut album appears soon for sure.

You probably won’t buy Sado Opera’s album because they probably won’t get around to recording one but this outrageous hi-energy disco cabaret act, with lead singer dressed as a deranged Captain Hook almost high-kicking his way through the low slung roof of the Queen’s Hotel venue should definitely be caught live. The Berlin by-way-of-St Petersburg outfit have an outrageously humorous way of taking down their home country regime’s Dark Age attitude to homosexuality. As a sweaty crowd are forced to make dog ears for one daft disco piece we are informed by Hook’s glamourous female sidekick: Russian men don’t do the bow wow.

Half an hour later and Sticky Mike’s throws up more 17 year-olds this time in the form of Derry trio Touts. There’s nothing subtle about the boys but their full throttle punk by numbers thrash is a joy to be assaulted by and the lad’s banter, what the audience could discern through thick Northern Irish accents, had the crowd eating out of the palms of their sweaty hands.

Buzz always vibrates around the bars and venues of TGE and it can launch (Superorganism) or it can deflate. A big crowd gathered at Coalition for Ten Tonnes and you can see why Ethan Barnett’s prefect pop guitar melodies have wormed into some ears. But there is such a thing as too perfect and too often this lurched over into a dull and formulaic set. Probably sell songs by the boatload.

So it was good to skip over to the beautiful Paganini Ballroom at the Old Ship Hotel to catch the BBC Introducing set of Mahalia, the Leicester-born RnB/soul songstress who was smart, funny and the possessor of some great hook-laden tunes. And by the way old timers Mahalia told us her brilliant song Sober has now reached 10 million hits on YouTube and preceded to prove its prevalence by having most of the females in the audience singing along, word perfect, to it. That’s where whatever money’s left in the industry is to be found most TGE insiders will probably tell you.

Finally the Friday odyssey was completed with a trip to The Haunt to see Hotel Lux one of the angry young male bands formed in the wake of The Fat White Family. As to be expected so early on there’s not enough there to tell where they might go but one or two songs hint at possible new torch holders for the raging sound of the dispossessed.