If Austin Powers and Dr. Evil decide to wage their next cinematic battle in Cambodia, Dengue Fever has the house-band slot on lock.

Dengue Fever

The Cambodian- and Ethiopian-influenced psychedelic pop band doesn't sound--or look--like any other band. The Los Angeles-based sextet played to a packed house at the Independent in San Francisco Saturday night, showing off a truly inimitable sound.

Named for a terribly unpleasant tropical disease, Dengue Fever is fronted by Ch'hom Nimol, a pint-sized Cambodian woman who wears beauty pageant dresses and belts out lyrics in her native Khmer language with an unbelievably powerful, almost otherworldly voice. She sings over a band that draws from a wide range of influences, particularly '60s-era pop and rock from Cambodia and Ethiopia, as well as American bands of that era such as the Doors.

The result on Saturday night was a bit hit or miss, but while the misses were jaw-droppingly odd, the hits were exhilarating and authentic, mostly driven by the funky guitar licks of Zac Holtzman and the Ray Manzarek-style organ playing of his brother Ethan.

Some of the tracks mimicked the Cambodian pop of '60s singers such as Ros Serey Sothea and Huoy Meas, while others drew heavily from the Ethiopiques CD series, showing off the sax-driven sound of that country's '60s pop.

But the band's best tracks, such as "Sni Bong," "One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula," and "We Were Gonna," mixed both of those influences with straight-up American psychedelic rock, and the resulting stew was full of sinewy guitar, swirling saxophone, and blissfully psychedelic organ.

The band also attracted some hilariously rabid fans, a handful of whom joined them onstage for a stint of singing, dancing, and preening. It was quite a sight, with a one-of-a-kind sound to match.