Paranoia Dance Party! may be a little strange, but at least they're up front about it. "It's awkward art," says singer Matt Turner. "All of us in the band are pushing it to a whole new level of weirdness."

That means letting the band's hardcore-punk-ska-disco mix -- think of it as dance music gone berserkers -- take over completely during sets. The band doesn't let the music stop during live sets, even during raucous stage dives. "We get a lot of confused looks," Turner said, "but I'm okay with that."

After the jump, get Julie Garisto's full profile of this exclamation-pointed fivesome, including the story of how they managed to piss off Paramore's fan base ...

Big destroyers: Formed 2007 in Tampa, Paranoia Dance Party! are Matt Turner, vocals; Tyler Rosenberg, guitar; Alex Roman, trumpet; Woody Bond, drums; and Spencer Andrews, bass.

Description of their sound: “Extremely high energy eclectic music which mixes ska, hardcore, metal, punk and disco.” Think of it as dance music gone berserkers.

Current EP: Help!Help!Help!Help!, recorded in February 2009; it’s available for free download on Open Hand Records (openhandrecords.wordpress.com) and was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Atomic Audio.

Another description: “It’s awkward art,” Turner said. “All of us in the band are pushing it to a whole new level of weirdness.”

Making Paramore paranoid? The EP cover, inspired by Paramore’s Riot!, irked fans of the emotive co-ed band. “Just about a month ago the Paramore fan site saw it somehow,” says Turner,” and they were very upset about it because we cannot come up with our own original ideas and we have to, um, rip off Paramore for everything, with no understanding of satire or parody.”

In between daze: Crowd reactions have been favorable, albeit with some bewilderment. “My favorite comment was from our friend Sam Gersky,” Rosenberg said. “After he saw us a few times, he said it was — what word did he use to describe us — almost unsettling. I think it’s because we do a bunch of sound clips in between songs ... not the usual banter and topics. We don’t usually talk. It’s all filled with a sampler.”

Bond: “We do our best to make sure there are no pauses in our set at all. We have one clip that’s actually our friend Jeremy talking about our merch in the back. It sounds like an old ’40s-style commercial.”

Ska pimpin’: Turner promotes and books ska shows, and commandeers the Florida Ska Web page at floridaska.com.

Writing the stuff: Turner comes up with the lyrics and the band collaborates on the sound. “I don’t know how much the lyrics really matter much,” Turner demurred, “as they do in conjunction with the music.”

The President Stole My Brain: Name of a tune that Turner said has been around “through different administrations.”

The scene at the shows: The guys make full use of the venue and stage. Once at the Skatepark of Tampa’s Transitions Art Gallery, Rosenberg put his guitar on a loop, ran off the stage, ran up the stairs of the loft, climbed on a pole and jumped off it onto the stage and picked up his guitar and started playing it again. “Nobody died,” Turner said reassuringly.

Rosenberg: “We get all kinds, depending on the show and the people there. Kids attempt to skank or mosh or dance or skip.”

Turner: “We get a lot of confused looks but I’m okay with that.”

Hear them: Sunday at 6:30 p.m. with New Bruises and Bomb the Music Industry at Transitions Art Gallery at the Skatepark of Tampa. All ages. $8.

-- Julie Garisto, tbt*