Are reviewers somehow honor bound to play into bands’ gimmicks? It seems sycophantic to do so, which means I guess I’ll be a stick in the mud (shtick in the mud?) and declare straight off that members of Man (Or Astro-Man? – pretend space aliens) and Servotron (pretend evil robots) have combined to form a band pretending to be a cult.

Sarcasm aside, the music is actually thoroughly entertaining. It is flawlessly executed with a punchy, ass-shaking beat and a solid new-wave foundation. Female and male singers trade off to add even more texture. The band shines the brightest when it just kicks in the guitars and goes for some straight-ahead garage-y rock, but even the slower, more lush songs have an original edge that keeps the album flowing to the end. And what an end it is – "U.F.O." is the strongest song on Causey vs. Everything, with the surfy riffs that both MOAM and Servotron have honed to an art leading into a fist pumper "U! F! O!" chorus and the sneered "You suckers!"

Like any good hipster LARPing at being cool, I try not to be a sucker. But I find myself drawn in. Perhaps I’ll don the white and follow the Way. Yeah right, and monkeys might fly out of my …