Naked ambition

The Naked and Famous.

It's not the sort of album a band who have had a catchy, chart-topping No 1 single should make.

It's far too noisy, abrasive, and often uncompromising in its music-making approach for that.

Then again, in a world where pop hits are either nice and catchy, or nice and sleazy, Auckland five-piece the Naked and Famous were a surprise oddity when their swooning and scorching single Young Blood debuted at the top of the pops in June.

"We knew we were on to a great concept, but we had no idea it was going to do what it did.

You know, beat Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry for a couple of weeks, which is quite absurd really," says band co-founder, producer, and singer Thom Powers.

"But it's really put us in a way better place in terms of public perception.

"But it's also an awkward place, and we have to be careful about being seen just as a pop band."

Their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You, which is out on Monday, should set the record straight and though the mainstream charms of Young Blood will lure many in, also beware of coming away with bleeding ears.

There's Frayed, with its slabs of dissonant distortion and rumbling darkness; new single Punching in a Dream (a pretty distressing song with the fiery lyric: Like punching in a dream, breathing life into my nightmare); and, most menacing and bratty of all, A Wolf in Geek's Clothing, a barrage of riffing and writhing thrash.

"It's pretty heavy, eh?" says Powers of the song.

"It's full of strange noises, the structure is odd, it breaks down into nothing and then it's off again," adds bandmate and fellow producer Aaron Short.

It's clear the Naked and Famous - also made up of fetching siren, singer and co-founder Alisa Xayalith, bass player David Beadle, and drummer Jesse Wood - are more than just an electro synth pop band.

They're reinventing the genre and have come up with something unique.

Before Young Blood they were movers and shakers in the underground thanks to excellent 2008 EPs This Machine and No Light; they scored a support slot for Nine Inch Nails in early 2009; and last year's All of This - a song that starts out with a humming pulse and escalates into volatility - got widespread airplay on music TV and alternative radio.

All this and they're all still in their early 20s, with Xayalith the oldest at 23.

The turning point, however, was Young Blood, which was one of the first songs (along with All of This) they wrote for the album.

"We were in a nice big studio, and we were kind of running the show, and we were like, OK, we've got to do this. Can we do this?," remembers Powers.

The result was, well, near pop perfection with Xayalith's voice a standout as it moves from high and hushed to a beautiful sonic yowl.

As well as chart honours, and being an iTunes hit, it's also on the shortlist for this year's Silver Scroll Awards.