Health, the headlining act on the University of Otago's Orientation programme, may take its music seriously, but that's about as far as the earnestness extends.
Bass player John Famiglietti, Jake Duzsic (vocals, guitar), Jupiter Keyes (guitar) and Benjamin Miller (drums) clearly enjoy a prank or two.
Take a look at their MySpace page; halfway down is an address to which fans can send mail.
The problem is, the details feature a London postcode.
The intended recipient? Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.
There is also a video blog, titled "We are not afraid of you", in which Famiglietti and company brandish swords and attack copies of Lord Of the Rings DVDs to a soundtrack largely comprising didgeridoo.
It has something to do with the group's tour to Australia and New Zealand, which includes a performance in the University of Otago's Main Common Room tomorrow night.
Famiglietti is on the phone from Los Angles, where the band has just returned following a couple of cold weeks in Canada.
He's looking forward to his first visit to New Zealand, wants to visit the "black beach" near Auckland, "swimming with dolphins", etc, etc.
He's also relishing the prospect of stripping a bit of paint off the walls of various venues.
Be warned: Health likes its music loud.
It also likes its music warped, blitzed by an array of effects, from distortion to delay (and all points in between).
Those keen on ballads best stay away: Health might do stripped-back on occasion, but you won't find an acoustic guitar in sight.
As for vocals? Merely another flavour in the sonic soup.
That's not to say the group doesn't enjoy a dose of rock riffery; it just doesn't play by those rules.
"We came from that background and it informed a lot of things we do, but we have gone to great lengths to avoid what we like about that music, what makes that music work, to be non-referential," Famiglietti says.
"Jake and I both grew up on punk rock.
"We all listened to classic rock growing up.
"We all sort of got it.
"That made it possible to have a band like this."
And banish any image of songwriters playing guitars in bedrooms.
Famiglietti prefers a pen and a piece of paper.
Lyrics? Pah.
He likes flow charts, mapping out the intended outcome of a track well before any instruments are picked up.
"It is pretty counter-intuitive.
"You are avoiding all the things that would work.
"It's like, `you can't do that; it sounds like it is referenced to this' ... Everything we do is an uphill battle.
"When I write, my method is to use a flow chart.
"We have streamlined to this very efficient system.
"We are now trying to use the computer as much as possible, to take things in a more electronic way.
"It is very produced.
"A lot of things came out through the limitation of recordings or decisions that were made.
"We are chasing this f ... ed up blown-out sound, but we want it to play on all systems."
Since forming in 2006, Health has toured extensively, crisscrossing the United States and Canada and steadily building up a fan base.
It has also travelled to Japan and Europe ("they really get us; how they consume music is quite different than the US"), has enjoyed charting in the United Kingdom indie top 10 (with 2007 single Crystal Castles), and opened for Nine Inch Nails on its 2008 tour.
Add in the fact it has released numerous singles and three albums in four years (2007's self-tiled debut, a remixed follow-up and 2009's Get Color), with another due early next year, and it is clear Health has a strong work ethic and an equally robust sense of self-belief.
"From the beginning, we wanted to go on tour," Famiglietti says.
As for self-belief? "I don't know if it is healthy; it's more of a delusion, or not thinking about it, really.
"We view things extremely unrealistically and I think that has worked in our favour."
See them
Health plays at the University of Otago's Main Common Room tomorrow.