No other Canadian band has so carefully cultivated an aura of mystery. Sounding like bratty, trashy siblings of Ladytron—ones who got their hands on a Game Boy instead of a Korg keyboard—enigmatic local duo Crystal Castles has been seducing crowds on both sides of the Atlantic. They shot up the venue ranks here this past winter (Wrongbar in February, Circa in March) and hit England’s Glastonbury fest in June. Now they’ve returned for their biggest Toronto show yet: Harbourfront’s Beats, Breaks & Culture. What are they all about? Here, a seven-point primer.

1. With at least four aliases behind him—Claudio Palmieri, Ethan Deth, Ethan Fawn and, most recently, Ethan Kath—CC’s mastermind remains inscrutable with the help of hoodies, shadows and, on the cover of the pair’s Air War single, an ice cream sundae.

2. Alice Glass first brought her ragged wail to the masses on a 2006 seven-inch EP. Featuring vocals reputed to have been unknowingly recorded during a studio sound check, the plainly titled Alice Practice was an indie hit, selling out all 500 copies in just three days.

3. Kath’s sampling and keyboard noodling is frequently likened to video game music— a natural link given that his band shares its name with an Atari arcade release from 1983 (not to mention the fortress belonging to the incomparable She-Ra, Princess of Power).

4. The (requisite) ironic T is not unlike the band’s own shirts, which feature a drawing of a black-eyed, Material Girl–era Madonna. Lifted without credit to British artist Trevor Brown, the image has subsequently been used on the cover of the band’s first EP and on the insert in its recent full-length album. The ensuing and seemingly unresolvable controversy continues to fuel on-line bickering.

5. Ripped denim is the only evidence you’ll find of Kath’s rowdier days fronting sleaze-metal outfit Kill Cheerleader, whose band members were apparently famous for getting themselves barred from clubs after shattering glass doors and torching mannequins onstage.

6. Notoriously timid offstage—and rumoured to suffer from frequent bouts of pre-show weeping—Glass’s personality flips in front of a crowd, where the petite singer hoots and hollers and bounces around in CC’s signature strobe lighting.

7. At the end of February, Glass broke two ribs in a post-gig car wreck. Recommended recovery time was six weeks, but punk sensibilities quickly took over and Glass was back after two, returning in time to blow through four songs at South by Southwest in Austin.

Crystal Castles plays with Thunderheist on July 5 at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000, www.harbourfrontcentre.com.