With Loving and Open Arms

Seemingly taking a cue from Genesis P-Orridge's post-Throbbing Gristle project, Psychic TV (which blended often harsh and dissonant primarily electronic music with a deadpan public image of being some kind of bizarre cult), the Causey Way is a group of punk kids who have all adopted the last name Causey as well as a shared look and a put-on faux-religious lyrical persona to go along with their otherwise fairly standard-issue new wave-influenced punk-pop. The songs are particularly enjoyable to anyone with fond memories of their old Rezillos and early B-52's albums — there are old-school sci-fi synths whooshing around everywhere, and honestly, the guitar parts on at least half of these songs sound like they're about to burst into "52 Girls" at any second! — and the uniformly thematic lyrics are occasionally amusing and only rarely annoying. The shtick means that the Causey Way will never be taken for anything but a prankish joke band, which is a real shame, because it means that the genuine new wave charms of this album will largely go ignored.