Tonight is the night you’ve been waiting for, my hipster friend. There was that little spring in your step as you hopped out of bed and, as usual, passed on brushing your hair. The excitement carried over to when you tacked your pins onto your jacket. You were so looking forward to the evening that you couldn’t focus, stabbing your thumb with the sharp end of your treasured Smiths pin. As you straightened your black, horn-rimmed glasses, you stared at yourself in the mirror and cast your trademark ironic smirk. ‘It’s my time to shine,’ your inner music geek said, appeased at last.

But sometime today, the choice must be made, and your stomach is in knots. Is it going to be Axis or Avalon? Lansdowne St.’s alliterated duo beckons you like a beautiful siren. There’s good reason, too. Tonight is scenester showdown night in Boston, and your indie cred is at stake.

Well, technically it’s not, because when Hot Hot Heat’s Axis show gets under way in direct competition to Fischerspooner’s Avalon freakout, neither of the bands will be ‘indie’ per se Hot Hot Heat recently signed to Warner Brothers, and Fischerspooner repackaged their self-titled debut as a release on Capitol, titled #1.

But let’s not get bogged down in technicalities. These two bands represent exactly what’s hot hot heat in underground music right now, despite not having ‘The’ in their names. Both are part of the ‘new’ new wave, channeling early 80s acts that used synthesizers and drum machines prominently, if not solely. Along with bands like The Faint and The Rapture, these new-schoolers keep a punk aesthetic while making what is essentially dance music.

To label Hot Hot Heat a new wave band would be unfair, though, considering they are just a dancey rock band that incorporates keyboards and organ to make their jams a little jiggier. But for Fischerspooner, the title could not be more appropriate. Their brand of tongue-in-cheek electro-pop is like a playful Gary Numan, full of vocoders and male/female tradeoffs.

Both bands are ascending and garnering mainstream airplay (Hot Hot Heat’s ‘Bandages’ on MTV2 and Fischerspooner’s ‘Emerge’ locally on WFNX), but tonight is the big showdown, and who’s going to be where?

Well, the serious hipster will likely end up forking over the $10 for Hot Hot Heat. The full-length debut from this Vancouver foursome, Make Up the Breakdown, is full of catchy hooks, clever wordplay and a youthful energy that makes the songs burst from the speakers. It’s all about the music with these guys, who want you to nod your head while you’re shaking that rump.

Their sound is similar to contemporary pop-rock revivalists like Phantom Planet and Weezer, who owe their paychecks to The Cars, Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. In fact, Hot Hot Heat vocalist Steve Bays sounds a little bit like Elvis Costello, but only if the bespectacled-one ran 100 laps and got punched in the nuts. Bays’ nasally, high-pitched yelp gives Hot Hot Heat a unique identity.

The ‘serious’ hipster, jaded sarcasm and irony required, will opt for Fischerspooner’s absurdist performance art. The duo of Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner employ up to 20 backup dancers at a time, and everyone is outfitted in costumes designed by Spooner, who has a background in experimental theater. This may reek of ‘hipper-than-thou,’ but Fischerspooner’s hometown New York live shows have caused a sensation, and you can’t fool all New York hipsters all of the time.

For music snobs, this night is the equivalent of Zack and Kelly’s prom (of ‘Saved By the Bell’). Two groups, gaining in maturity and reaching their prime, squaring off for one long, lone slow dance. And when it comes down to it, who’s corner are you going to be in?