When The Joy Formidable steps on the stage, audiences may have a few questions. Is this metal or pop? Are bassist Rhydian Dafydd and drummer Matt Thomas aloof or merely professional? Is front woman Ritzy Bryan eyeing the audience angrily? Or is she happy?

The answer is that none of it really matters and they are actually about to shatter your eardrums with a nuclear bomb of layered musical madness, and you better be ready for the revolution.

This September, the Welsh outfit makes their second-ever tour of America and they hit Santa Barbara’s SoHo Lounge for the first time Tuesday. The group was a main attraction at San Francisco’s Outside Lands music festival. In spite of their rapidly increasing momentum, getting Ritzy on the phone for a pre-show interview was rather painless.

“You’ve got one enormous continent here,” she laughed. “People really look for live music here. They’re very exuberant and we like that. Yeah, we like America. From a touring side and just losing yourself in the landscape. It’s ever-changing.”

This majestic, vast and ever-changing landscape, however, is responsible for the never-ending drives that plague many performers. While I may find the prospect of spending hours cooped up with two guy friends to be somewhat unappetizing, Ritzy swears the band’s relationship has never been better.

“Oh yeah, we fight, but very happily so,” she said. “I’d be very scared there’s something fucking wrong with them if it’s all too happy and lovey-dovey — I’d worry that the music we’re creating is too happy. They’re good boys … I probably get picked on a little bit more but that’s okay, I can hold my own.”

Indeed, her statement seems to be very true if their live show is any indicator. While Ritzy does delight in concert through her expressive demeanor (her wide eyes and tow-headed hair bring to mind the image of a demented — albeit lovely — doll) and the simple fact that she’s a female front, the entire group’s dynamic accounts for the palpable energy that overtakes the stage when the band plays. As soon as The Joy Formidable began to play their hit, “Whirring,” SoHo’s audience sang along at a surprisingly quiet and respectful volume.

The Joy Formidable certainly seems to respect their fans. The group self-released A Balloon Called Moaning in 2009 while still on the road in order to give their supporters something to listen to when they couldn’t fork out the money to see the group live. Still, many of those tour CD tunes became signature songs and made it onto their debut album released in January, The Big Roar.

“We’re incredibly proud of it as a body of work,” Ritzy said. “The approach to the band has always been very organic. We sort of got the sense that people wanted us to release it and we shared it early on and for some people that’s quite jarring.”

The Joy Formidable’s lack of pretention is partly why the band is so attractive. On Tuesday, the nor- mally bourgeois SoHo Lounge had a feel more akin to an underground guerilla art gallery, and the change was a good one. The opening acts, Los Angeles-based groups Races and Telekinesis, both played well into the mood of night by offering the pleasant mixes of ethe- real vocals and heavy instrumental lines. By the time The Joy Formidable set into its upbeat tune, “Cradle,” the crowd basked in the confusion between Ritzy’s girl-punk vocals and shredding guitar, Thomas’ drum machine-esque beats, Dafydd’s throbbing bass lines and the sinisterly fun and sincerely awesome results.

The group’s set was short and sweet. After play- ing their last tune, “Austere” (and jamming out, laughing, playing from the floor and generally going nuts while doing it), the group said a happy goodbye before skipping off stage and hitting the road for the continuation of their tour. At that point, an encore would have seemed redundant.

So, are you lame? Are you tired of wandering down palm tree-lined streets in khakis and talk- ing about Joan Didion while eating bruschetta? Are you sick of all-boy shoegaze bands? Are you an Artsweek music journalist who is slightly dis- gusted with herself for writing the most glowing review ever seen in her short career? Well, The Joy Formidable just may be the kick in the ass you need.